Therapist Clueless About Sociopaths

[Dana1010]

Anthony...you talk of broad brushes and then use one to describe the chat - i take no personal offense to your statement other than who made you the expert. I have defined the behaviors most associated with it and nothing more

Yeah, I'm wondering, who are these totally safe, pacifist psychopaths @anthony is talking about? I've read three or four books and a dozen or more articles about sociopaths, plus watched a documentary and I've never heard of them. I've sure never met one. In fact the ones who seem the most normal and under control often turn out to be the most dangerous.

 

[anthony]

Dana... your therapist obviously disagree's with you too... otherwise you wouldn't be asking this question here, looking for support from the other side of the fence, being the abused versus the psychologist. I've read books too, and depending on how broad or narrow the book based on a subject, and the authors experience, differed to what I read and from which angle they wrote it.

I'm not disagreeing with you that psychopaths / sociopaths can be dangerous. But please correct me if I'm wrong here, based on the below quote from your initial post, was this person a diagnosed sociopath? That is merely a yes or no answer.

The trouble started when I was talking to my therapist about someone from my past who scarred me and who was a sociopath (I am well versed in the subject and have copious evidence to support the claim). My therapist looked flustered, and said, "Why is it so important for you to describe him as a sociopath?" Um, because he was one?

 

[darrenS]

the ones i talk of , have been identified as displaying sociopathic tendencies - i worked in health for 6 years in A & D Treatment , and was part of a multidisciplinary team that included psychiatrists and at times forensic psychiatrists , my role was also to receive prisoners on pre release etc , my last client was released from Jika Jika...remember that horror ..i was trained to deal with them and yes i agree , it is damn near impossible to identify a sociopath by sight alone - it takes a long time to piece the jigsaw together so to speak - it is only through thorough testing, complete history etc etc , that you can truly identify them

The worst of the worst which make up a extremely small group are rare - very rare , but something you will never forget if you do happen to meet one, and i dont say that lightly

 

[greenleaf]

If this discussion, I'm reading the same thing in each response that has personal experience, being bias towards anyone displaying slight psychopathic behaviours, as labelling them a sociopath / psychopath, with no diagnostic application.

You might have missed my specific statement that my personal experience was with non-psychopaths, Anthony. I put it in bold after I saw that.

I think the absence of empathy is very important to the pleasure/power thing, I agree with @Dana1010 . Makes sense to me anyhow.

We pretty much all must be able to suspend empathy to some extent anyway; we seem able to feel the most empathy for those we think of as most like ourselves, often... I bet social psychologists have studied this stuff a ton. There seem likely to be evolutionary advantages to that.

Being on the receiving end of abuse from someone who you can sense is feeling pleasure from abusing you has horror to it.

 

[anthony]

other than who made you the expert

I'm not... and I haven't claimed to be such, so I'm unsure why you're making such defensive statements.

 

[darrenS]

my apologies ..thanks for the enjoyable discussion

 

[anthony]

it is only through thorough testing, complete history etc etc , that you can truly identify them

And this we agree upon whole heartedly. Which is why it pisses me off when I read statements in threads like this, like the quote I pulled from Dana above, at a guess, she has labelled this person a sociopath based on her copious evidence. I will ask Dana now... what experience do you have to make such assertions with any evidence?

The worst of the worst which make up a extremely small group are rare - very rare , but something you will never forget if you do happen to meet one, and i dont say that lightly

I think it would be quite awful dealing with those persons day in, day out... bigger man than me for it mate.

 

[anthony]

This is my exact point... people see behaviours, read some books, then just slap a label of sociopath / psychopath onto a person. Why?

Obviously the therapist gets it...

 

[Dana1010]

was this person a diagnosed sociopath? That is merely a yes or no answer.

Not that I know of, but I have a lot of reasons to think that he was. He operated on the shady side of the law [OP edit to protect anonymity], I could definitely go on.

Also, I feel this is a bit of a red herring. I'm not basing my views on psychopaths on this individual, I'm basing my assumption that he was a psychopath on expert analysis and literature.

 

[anthony]

I'm basing my assumption that he was a psychopath on expert analysis and literature.

Ok... I'll play along a little longer.

What was in his childhood that evidenced you that he formed a psychopathic personality disorder?

 

[Dana1010]

what experience do you have to make such assertions with any evidence?

My father was a diagnosed psychopath, so I grew up in the same house with one. It doesn't make me an expert per se, but I think it gives me a certain sense.

Also I have no idea what this person's childhood was like.

 

[darrenS]

Childhood sociopathy is entirely different , as many children display characteristics and through learned and social behaviours , loving and supportive environments can actually grow out of it - one major study was child soldiers - who when extensively and properly re-integrated no longer showed their violent tendencies etc , however once a child is left long enough they are actually more dangerous than any adult as witnessed in Brazil etc with street kids - As has been said , it is extremely complex and the least understood of all mental illnesses. And comes in a many many different forms.