10 WARNING SIGNS OF A SOCIOPATH

THE 10 DANGER SIGNS

Sociopath expert Dr Robert Hare has devised the following checklist to help people recognise sociopathic traits.  

1. SUPERFICIAL charm. Smooth, engaging and charming, a sociopath will never become tongue-tied or embarrassed.  

•Often compose poetry and fictitious stories where the lead character (assigned the sex of the writer) is the complete package.

2. OVER-INFLATED sense of self-worth. Sociopaths believe they are superior human beings.

•Feel they do no wrong. Often assigns blame for the negative aspects of their life on others. 

•They are easily paranoid and possessive if they believe they are in a relationship (belief could stem from simply chatting with the opposite sex on Facebook).

3. PRONE to boredom. They feel the need to be stimulated constantly.

•Leads to alcohol and drug abuse which takes a prominent place in their actual life and fictitious compositions. (Alcoholism runs hand in hand with ASPD).

4. PATHOLOGICAL liars. Sociopaths will be deceptive and dishonest.

• They will lie about all aspects of their life to become the individual they feel the person they are interested in using is looking for.  

• Social Networking sites such as Facebook are their main tool to perpetuate their schemes.

• They often look up past acquaintances and completely disregard their marital/relationship status (see #2).  They find it easier to re-initiate a friendship than to establish a new one.

5. MANIPULATIVE. They will say and do anything to deceive and cheat others. 

6. LACK of remorse. No sense of the suffering of their victims.

7. LIMITED range of feelings. Don’t expect them to express anything other than happiness or sadness. 

• Most frequently anger and arousal..  

8. CALLOUS. Cold, contemptuous, inconsiderate and tactless are apt words to describe them.

9. THEY live a parasitic lifestyle. Sociopaths are often financially dependent on others.

• The most severe has a history of numerous psychiatric hospitalizations.

• Unable to maintain gainful employment thus live of of the system- mental disability checks.

• They bounce between few friends and family be it siblings or aunts sponging their way through while wasting their disability payments on cigarettes, alcohol and drugs while spending most of their time cultivating their life if deceit.

10. THEY can’t control their behaviour. When challenged, sociopaths will appear irritable, annoyed and impatient.

• Due to their paranoia they are easily irritated when someone else figures them out or when someone refuses to provide what they demand.  

• This behavior leads to legal issues and incarceration due to stalking, assault/battery and resisting arrest. 

The signs are simple and easily discerned if the time is taken to look past their initial attempts to manipulate and deceive. In this day and age it is best to perform a background check to get an unbiased snap shot of the true life they live.  It doesn't cost much... in the end it will save you from a great deal of emotional and physical abuse as well as protect your finances and good name.  

BEHAVIOR... Better than a mood ring...

Does he/she persistently lie to you or steal from you?

Do you get the feeling that they have no remorse for hurting people?

Do they have a childhood diagnosis of conduct disorder?

Are you fearful of your safety? Is he/she prone to violence and/or aggressive behavior?

Is he/she unable to keep and maintain friendships? 

Have you noticed that he/she has an extreme sense of entitlement, often putting others needs last or not considering them at all?

Do you believe him/her when they compliment you, or does it seem superficial and manipulative?

Is he/she wreckless and impulsive? 

Does it seem as they have no self control? 

Do they have recurring difficulties with the law because of this?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you are unfortunately dealing with somebody who suffers from Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD).  One just needs to look at a persons history (legal, employment, family) and pay attention to their current life situation. Do they maintain a heavy focus on using alcohol or other substances?

Do they spend an inordinate amount of time in attempts at creativity? (Writing stories or poetry on social networking sites)..

Is their mood shifts evident in their attempt at creativity?  (Focus on love, loss, life, sex?)

It's important to evaluate the answers to the information as being observed.  Many that suffer ASPD and BPD try to escape their chemical imbalance through creating a "delusional" or "Fantasy" existence.  By nature of their disorder they seek to portray the existence as reality specifically in an environment that allows them to maintain anonymity thus protecting the frailty of the existence they have created. One can pay close attention to the writings the individual composes and will notice the mood swings that are characteristic with their mental illness.  When feeling "stable" whether on medication or a hiatus in the biochemical storm that they routinely experience, you will notice a high degree of fictional creativity as they mold their delusion around their ideal life.  They will embellish facts of their own life to bring attention of those groups or individuals (targets) that they choose to be their audience.  Male suffers of the disorder,will focus on females, alcohol and sex.  Many times they will compose stories that find themselves and a female being the last two people on earth(i.e post apocalyptic back drop). Other times they will portray a life of highly romantic love focusing on having unlimited money to show such love. One commonality in their writings is a high acclaim and use off alcohol whether wine, beer or whiskey in everyday life.  Their is an extremely high incidence of co-morning alcoholism with this and other mental illnesses.  More importantly however, you can track the cycles of their disorder based on the prose they present. When shifting to a manic, uncontrolled state, the frequency of their compilation of poetry increases... The majority of which places emphasis on the loss of love, the ability of the composer to love better than anyone, sex and how he/she doesn't care and can bring bodily harm to another (this part occurs at the precipice of a manic break which often is a precursor to running afoul of the law.). 

If one just takes the time to answer the questions and then pay attention to the the time and content placed into the creation of their delusion then you can not fall prey to their manipulation.  Don't be mistaken, they have no other motive than to "use" another as evident in their legal history, broken relationships, poor employment history.. Truth is, what type of person has the time to devote to the creation of delusional existences (that doesn't get paid to do so) heavily focused on sex and alcohol with a history of legal issues (40 + legal runnins, many DUI's, Assault and Battery charges to including on a female and a history of psychiatric hospital admissions)?  An unemployed alcoholic who refuses to follow the treatment plan as established by a psychiatrist.  I could name names as examples with specific illustrations but I believe the warning is very clear.  See the signs, stay away or be abused by the person.  Simple as that. 

SOCIOPATHS AND STALKING.

Paradoxically, sociopaths are egomaniacs without pride. Their shamelessness, lack of boundaries and hunger for control often leads them to relentlessly pursue individuals who don’t want them, and who repeatedly reject them. Normal human beings not only don’t desire to stalk others because they have boundaries, but also they would feel too deeply embarrassed and humiliated to continue pursuing individuals who have rejected them over and over again.

This common sense logic does NOT apply to sociopaths. In fact, like in the movie Fatal Attraction and many other films about disordered creepy individuals, sociopaths ESPECIALLY pursue those who don’t want them. Not only directly, through stalking and cyberstalking, but also indirectly, by manipulating other individuals under their control to stalk and harass the targets who have rejected them.

Being social predators driven by the need for power and control, sociopaths can’t take rejection. Like with any predatory behavior, observing, following and stalking the prey is part and parcel of what sociopaths do. Sometimes their harmful behavior is opportunistic, as is the case with serial killers who seize the moment–and their victims–without observing them for an extended period of time in advance. But very often sociopaths plan their actions cold-heartedly and methodically in advance: and not only as they pertain to violent crimes, but also as they pertain to getting anything they want: your money, your body, your heart and/or your life.

At the beginning of the relationship stalking behavior may seem romantic. It’s presented under the guise of not being able to be away from you; needing you all the time, wanting you. However, this constant attention masks the predator’s main intent: to control you and isolate you from others. Consequently, even in the most pleasant and blinding phase of a relationship with a sociopath–the honeymoon phase–dangerous individuals exhibit predatory behavior and traits.

After the victim ends a relationship with a sociopath, this behavior is likely to escalate into downright stalking. This happens for the reasons I have explained in previous articles:

1) sociopaths, being control-driven individuals, can’t take rejection

2) sociopaths, being control-driven, also don’t like to relinquish control over their targets

3) sociopaths, being control-driven, want to WIN. To them, winning means catching their targets into their spider’s nets and destroying them

4) sociopaths, being control-driven, want to exact vengeance and intimidate those who no longer worship them, want them, or obey them blindly.

Notice that the common denominator that explains sociopath behavior is the fact that sociopaths need to be IN CONTROL. They are principally motivated by the need to exercise power over others. Stalking behavior is a common strategy that sociopaths use to intimidate their non-compliant victims and an effort to punish them and regain control. For their victims, this is particularly difficult to deal with because stalking laws vary from state to state and because stalking–particularly cyberstalking–is very difficult to establish under the current laws. Generally speaking, one must establish a pattern of stalking as well as harmful intent and threat to safety: all from the same source/stalker. Since stalkers can be very stealthy and know how to erase their traces, reroute their IP address and easily get new email addresses, it’s not easy to take legal action against a sociopathic (cyber)stalker.

However, I’d advise victims to keep all the emails, texts, Facebook messages and wall posts, phone bills as evidence of (cyber)stalking and share it immediately with the authorities, their therapist, their friends and others. The more evidence is out there which pertains to the harassment, the better your chances become for taking effective legal action against the sociopath and even putting him in jail for his crime. Also I recommend exposing the sociopath by posting scans of the email and message transcripts along with their picture and outcome of criminal background searches with arrest history particularly that involve trespassing, cyberstalking, assault and battery(especially perpetrated on a female), resisting arrest, DWI's on appropriate web sites(cheaterville, playerblock, Jayden Hills) and forums as a warning to others. Any single or combination of the above offenses especially if they occur more than once indicates the sociopaths lack of respect for existing boundaries (legal and personal) plus the assault and resisting arrest is indicative of the "win at all costs mentality". Pay attention as well to any civil judgments, bankruptcy and employment history because the sociopath feels that everything is owed to them and most live a life proclaiming that they are the "victims" and will look to welfare system or disability as primary means of income while they live a nomadic lifestyle- moving from place to place.
As its been said, "the best defense is a good offense!" Expose the sociopath for what he is and utilize the legal system to put him in his place which is a nobody that will never have anything but a miserable life.