Thanks Gottabrain. Good stuff.
Thank you, sweetie! I went through two years of hell, headaches and confusion with the sociopath I am working with before I figured out how to deal with him. The third year has been nearly event-free for everyone!
I did some research into Hubbard's "anti-social personality" stuff and ran it alongside Cleckley/Hare's evolving research. Hubbard's stuff is very childish and limiting and really just about self-serving him and his group. Spot the man's grandiosity! lol It is, quite frankly, a waste of time in the real world.
Yes. Tubby's version is too misleading, too extreme and too scarey for starters. And entirely self-serving.
It's hard to comprehend that a person with the apparency of being a "normal" human (skin, teeth, arms, legs, etc) lacks any conscience or the range of emotional responses that most people in the general population experience.
Yes! It took me the first two years just to get my head around it. Is it a brain and nerve malfunction? Are these people born without a spirit? Religious references going back thousands of years make reference to these people. No emotions or real concept of emotions, no concept of a relationship to others or others as important, no conscience, no regrets. All actions based on "I want" - whether it is spur of the moment or a long term plan.
But they still have to eat, live and survive. They still need and desire human interaction. So these simple basics, as well as money and possessions or activities we might find pleasurable, can and do motivate them. But only temporarily, until the next desire appears, and many of the desires (not all!) are truly awful. That doesn't mean the person is capable of following through to fulfill the bad desires and these are the ones one must find out about and block. The codes for living never firm up and one has to be alert to that. What works for 3-4 months can suddenly drop out if the sociopath changes his mind, and that's unpredictable.
Something like a mind-control system won't, imho, stick to a sociopath as there is simply not enough identity (core beliefs, etc) for any new concepts to stick to. In my experience it is quite tricky to "read" a sociopath because the tendency is to try to find something and there simply isn't much to find in the emotional intelligence of a sociopath. It's the weirdest God damn feeling sitting in the same room as a sociopath.
Great insights, sallydance. You've nailed it! You're absolutely right - they can't be read! Isn't that WEIRD? But there is also a certain consistency to the statements. If you find the personal selfish goal behind what is being said or done, then you can do fairly well sorting the lies from the truth. All things said, true or lie, will support the personal selfish goal. They enjoy their storytelling though, and accidentally give true details, no matter how smooth they try to be.
I also think it is uncomfortable to be in the same room as a sociopath or to speak to one in any way. To me, it feels like being a fly near a spider. So I keep communication brief, short and to the point, rarely asking questions and usually just giving instructions and leave the room quickly. STILL!
If a sociopath thinks you are buying his story, though, he doesn't make the space unpleasant. That's only for those who know what he is.
Here's some info based on Robert Hare's research. His book
"Without Conscience" really helped me as I came out of the mind-control system more commonly called scientology.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/199401/charming-psychopath?page=2
I've read both, Sallydance, and learned a lot from them.
I love you
Glad to help in any way. I love you too, Sin!!
Emma, can we keep Misterfabian around for a little while as a clinical study?