The Psychopath Test, Now Available in Convenient Book Form

[Rashiminos]

citation please

afaik, the only "magic bullet" that cures psychopaths are the hard, fast, non-magical types

The natural variant is genetic, and represents a real deficiency. The acquired variant is a set of behavioral patterns. The cure lies in some combinations of art, spirituality, or philosophy.

I didn't say behavioral therapy above since it has a problematic premise.

What's even more disgusting is how the guy pauses and draws special breath for a sneer every time he says the word "psychopath," as if he spoke the name of The Dark Lord himself.

I'm not sure you properly understand what a psychopath is and can be, then.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

I'm not sure you properly understand what a psychopath is and can be, then.

Practically every person in the human race, by any extant definition.

 

[Jabarto]

yes and no.....on the one hand, it is estimated that "major" psychiatric illness, such as mood disorders and anxiety disorders are still underdiagnosed and many could benefit from improved functioning with proper treatment....on the other hand, many people are looking for easy "labels" to explain why they can't cope, or why they get angry or why they are irresponsible or why they are stupid.....and unfortunately, many psychs (iatrists and ologists) are willing to take their money to give them one.....

What is a "major disorder", exactly?

 

[gangleri2001]

I'm more interested in the question of how one becomes a psychopath. If its natural, then what would the evolutionary purpose behind it be?

Wait. Are you assuming that evolution is rational or something? I don't think so. I think it's just random stuff that happens and, if it's able to reproduce itself, adapt to the environment and not to selfextinct, then keeps hanging around until its inevitable extinction.

 

[Flying Pig]

I'm more interested in the question of how one becomes a psychopath. If its natural, then what would the evolutionary purpose behind it be? If its a social disease, then what are the factors that lead to it?

Somewhere out there an evolutionist is crying.

Practically every person in the human race, by any extant definition.

Say what? Isn't the crux of being a psychopath to do with a lack of empathy? Have you ever seen what happens if you dismember one lousy bunny rabbit in Trafalgar Square?

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Say what? Isn't the crux of being a psychopath to do with a lack of empathy? Have you ever seen what happens if you dismember one lousy bunny rabbit in Trafalgar Square?

That is a sociopath.

 

[Rashiminos]

Practically every person in the human race, by any extant definition.

That's a yes to my statement, then.

That is a sociopath.

Not all that different. The differences do tend towards sociopaths having emotions, occasionally.

 

[CivCube]

I didn't say behavioral therapy above since it has a problematic premise.

What kind of problems do you see?

 

[Rashiminos]

What kind of problems do you see?

Teaching a psychopath how to act as a better psychopath is not a cure.

 

[Azash]

I remember Most Evil featuring some research suggesting ASPD patients have a different brain structure. But I dislike the start of this video. "One in a hundred.. is a PSYCHOPATH"

 

[bernie14]

The natural variant is genetic, and represents a real deficiency. The acquired variant is a set of behavioral patterns. The cure lies in some combinations of art, spirituality, or philosophy.

yes and no….

theoretically, every condition has genetic predispositions and environmental influence…..each individual is different…..for example, in medical illness, some people smoke and eat whatever they want and do not develop lung cancer or diabetes, some people are very “fit” and still develop heart disease, cancer and/or diabetes, etc…..in psychiatric disorders, it is the same thing….some people can weather major emotional trauma and be fine, others, without “reason”, develop psychiatric illness….taking family history (genetic load) into consideration, each person may have a “tipping point” in which a “sub clinical” condition begins to present clinical symptoms, thus becoming a disorder…..

in anti-social personality disorder (the currently accepted term for sociopathy or psychopathy), there may also be genetic and environmental factors, but once the symptoms present, the condition is not easily treatable (and I am being “diplomatically optimistic&#8221….although it is certainly possible that those with greater environmental loads may be more likely to respond to treatment, it is really hard to tell with these types…..more likely, as u said, the sociopath just “acts” less sociopathic in certain instances…..

although controversial, sociopaths “supposedly” do better/well in areas that are very highly structured/have many rules, such as sports, law enforcement/military, very structured religions and jail of course…..the thought behind that is that the more sociopathic, the more you need “external” controls, as opposed to developing an “internal” moral/ethical code

What is a "major disorder", exactly?

sorry, it's just terminology, not "severity"....in the behavioral sciences, each individual recieves a 5 "axis" diagnosis, axis 1 is "major psychiatric illness", axis 2 is developmental and personality disorders, axis three is physical conditions, axis 4 is environmental stressors, graded from none to catastrophic and axis 5 is a "global assessment of function" GAF, which is ranked from 100 (above average) to 10 ("hannibal lecter")...a "0" is inadequate information

 

[Jabarto]

sorry, it's just terminology, not "severity"....in the behavioral sciences, each individual recieves a 5 "axis" diagnosis, axis 1 is "major psychiatric illness", axis 2 is developmental and personality disorders, axis three is physical conditions, axis 4 is environmental stressors, graded from none to catastrophic and axis 5 is a "global assessment of function" GAF, which is ranked from 100 (above average) to 10 ("hannibal lecter")...a "0" is inadequate information

Okay, it's just that a lot of people think that disorders have to fit their stereotyped perception of what mental illness is in order to be legitimate. It bothers me a lot and I wanted to make sure you weren't claiming that. You weren't though, so kudos.

 

[Hygro]

a lot of people do fit a lot of the same patterns though, hence the ability to diagnose specific things.

I may have skimmed this debate, however

 

[Rashiminos]

I remember Most Evil featuring some research suggesting ASPD patients have a different brain structure. But I dislike the start of this video. "One in a hundred.. is a PSYCHOPATH"

I supposed a 1 in 2 figure would be incomprehensible.