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Psychopathic personality
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Psychopathic personality:
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From Encarta World English Dictionary:
psychopath: n. an offensive term for somebody with a personality disorder marked by antisocial thought and behavior.
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From Answers.com:
Schneider (1958) defined the psychopathic personality as an abnormal personality who either suffers because of his abnormality or makes the community suffer because of it.
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From suite101.com:
The psychopath is a social predator. He is ruthless, manipulative and often charming. Once referred to as “moral imbeciles,” psychopaths exhibit a marked lack of conscience. They are callous, remorseless and spectacularly self-centered, willing to use and abuse others to achieve their ends, and they are inclined to blame others, including their victims, for their problems and bad behaviour.
Psychotic Versus Psychopathic
Many people confuse the terms “psychotic” and “psychopathic,” but unlike psychotics, psychopaths are not crazy. They are fully aware of what they’re doing and the potential consequences. They make their decisions rationally, and exercise free choice. They don’t suffer from delusions or hallucinations, and they are not afflicted with the anxiety or anguish that the mentally ill usually suffer.
Psychopathic Versus Antisocial Personality Disorder
Psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder are similar but not identical. Antisocial personality disorder manifests as a constellation of antisocial and criminal behaviours. Psychopathy, by contrast, refers to a cluster of deviant personality traits and behaviours that do not necessarily include criminal activity. Psychopaths, while often dabbling on the border of criminality, may never actually commit crimes for which they could be arrested, and many people who commit crimes are not psychopaths (although the majority of extremely violent criminals are).
Superficial or Glib, with Shallow Emotions
Psychopaths tend to be articulate, amusing and witty. Although they may tell stories that should be unbelievable, they have a knack for doing so in a way that causes intelligent people to believe them. However, some may peg them as overly slick or insincere, alerted by the psychopath’s use of excessive flattery to manipulate people.
The shallow emotions of the psychopath are evident in the fact that many claim to love the people they have abused or even murdered. Most abandon their spouses and children, or mistreat them if they stick around. Those that do stay part of a family unit tend to view their families as possessions, existing to create a favourable impression of the psychopath to the world, and to serve his or her needs.
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From Internet's Wikipedia:
Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by an abnormal lack of empathy combined with strongly amoral conduct, masked by an ability to appear outwardly normal. Neither psychopathy, nor the similar concept of sociopathy, are nowadays defined in international diagnostic manuals, which instead describe a category of antisocial/dissocial personality disorder. However, researcher Robert Hare, whose Hare Psychopathy Checklist is widely used, describes psychopaths as "intraspecies predators"[3] as does R.I. Simon.[4][verification needed] Elsewhere Hare and others write that psychopaths "use charisma, manipulation, intimidation, sexual intercourse and violence"[5][6][7][verification needed] to control others and to satisfy their own needs. Hare states that: "Lacking in conscience and empathy, they take what they want and do as they please, violating social norms and expectations without guilt or remorse".[8] He previously stated that: "What is missing, in other words, are the very qualities that allow a human being to live in social harmony"[9]
According to Hare, many psychopaths are superficially charming, and can be excellent mimics of normal human emotion;[10] some psychopaths can blend in, undetected, in a variety of surroundings, including corporate environments.[11] According to some[who?], there is neither a cure nor any effective treatment for psychopathy; there are no medications that can instil empathy, while psychopaths who undergo traditional talk therapy only become more adept at manipulating others.[12] However, other researchers suggest that psychopaths may benefit as much as others from psychological treatment, at least in terms of effect on behavior.[13] According to Hare, the consensus among researchers in this area is that psychopathy stems from a specific neurological disorder which is biological in origin and present from birth[10] although this was not what was reported by a 2008 review which instead indicated multiple causes and variation between individuals.[14] It has been estimated by some that less than one percent of the general population are psychopaths[15].
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Interesting, the overlaps of psychopathic personality with bully.
Chuck
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