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How to Spot a Sociopath

They are all around us, and can ruin your life. Learn the signs now to avoid them and protect yourself.

By Anais ParksPublished 6 years ago 2 min read
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Let’s start with the main traits of a sociopath, which is commonly referred to as anti-social personality disorder. Although sociopathy and psychopathy are both called this, they are different because one is BORN with psychopathy, while sociopath is developed normally from traumatic events.

Superficial Charm or Intelligence

A sociopath always wants to look good to others. They will do anything to protect their image. One of the most common things they will do is put up a fake façade, attempting to make themselves seem more charming and intelligent than they actually are.

Absence of Delusions

Surprisingly, a sociopath will normally not have irrational delusions or thoughts.

Absence of Nervousness

Normally, a sociopath will not become nervous (at least not easily) and neurotic manifestations are rare. They normally just don’t care.

Unreliability

One of the biggest tells is that they will often be unreliable, late, make promises they can’t keep, or will be extremely flaky for no reason. Do not try to borrow money from them, or rely on them for anything. They’ll just screw you over. (They don’t care about anyone but themselves.)

Insincerity

As I said, sociopaths will do anything to protect their image. If they wronged you, they will likely lie, lie, and lie some more to dodge responsibility for their actions. They will attempt to make it seem not as bad as you think, or will simply lie all the time—even about small and unimportant things.

Lack of Remorse/Shame

When they wrong you or cross a boundary, you will never hear a sincere, unprovoked apology. They simply do not feel bad for what they did and everything will be about how they can shirk responsibility for their actions. They do not have a conscience to tell them to feel bad about what they did. They simply do not care if it doesn’t affect them.

Lack of Learning From Experience/Poor Judgement

When they do wrong, expect them to do wrong again. They have no ability to learn from experience and their judgement for situations is highly compromised.

Extreme, Pathological Ego

These people will think way too highly of themselves and will likely have an inflated sense of self with hardly anything to back up their claims.

Incapacity for Love

Sorry, but if you're dating a sociopath they do not really love you. They have no ability to feel love, it's not wired in their brain. Once again, they only worry about themselves.

Loss of Insight

While the empaths of the world have high insight, sociopaths do not.

Unresponsive in Interpersonal Communication/Situations

If you are trying to bond with one of these people, or get them to understand your side, they will likely be very bored and be really bad at pretending to care about your view. You will notice how unresponsive they are to the situation.

Failure to Follow a Life Plan

They will often end up in a dead-end job, spending recklessly, and not doing hardly anything productive with their time.

Failed Relationships

These people will likely have many failed relationships/marriages and likely will treat other children better than their own.

Conclusion

These people are sad people. They have made no purpose for themselves. They waste their time, money, and possibilities for successful relationships. They will ruin your reputation and do just about anything in effort to protect their image. If you are in a relationship with a sociopath or know one, the best thing to do is get away and stop talking to them. You will feel a lot better when someone isn’t sucking away all your energy with their nonsensical antics.

personality disorder
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