Do people who have too much empathy pretend to be psychopaths?
Well, I happen to be one of those people who are too empathetic and want to help anyone who is in need. I got taken advantage a lot in my younger days. I didn't pretend to be a psychopath though. lol I did have to learn to reign my emotions in. I reminded myself that feeling empathy is good and fine but that I need to read the situation and not make it my problem just because I feel bad for them. Which has been a long hard process. Eventually I learned when and who to help and when to simply offer them my sympathy. This ability to sort of calm my emotions came in handy. I almost never get angry. I may get upset and everything but I dampen it down until it's the bare raw emotion and suppress the hurt and anger as best as possible. I also let a lot of things go. If my mother, who is a bit pushy about what she thinks is right... so if she comes over and decides I should hang a painting (that she picked out) somewhere, I may give my input but in the end, I'm not going to make a fuss. Let her hang the painting and she's happy and it doesn't really effect me in the grand scheme of things. The medical system and state insurance company gets all my rage. I've found that going along to get along really works when it comes to dealing with people. I'm no one's door mat but I do pick my battles and I learn to suppress a lot of emotion and then I play video games as an outlet. Also, I have been in relationships that I realize aren't working (I haven't done this in like 6 years or something) so I talk it out with the person and give them an option to work on it with me but I start suppressing the feelings so that it wont hurt so bad if we break up. I start to detach if us working on it starts to fail. Eventually I'll warn them that I'm unhappy and that if things don't change we'll need to end things. Eventually I'll get to the point where I can end thing with a reasonable head, not totally driven by emotion. At least, that's how I used to handle things when I was a lot younger. I think if you are very empathetic, you really do have to learn to control, manage, and suppress your emotions.
How to have high empathy like a psychopath?
its a myth that psychopaths lack empathy, they have the highest levels of empathy they are master at reading emotions and non verbal signs they can get inside you, imagine what you might be thinking, what you want to hear, they understand your weakness, insecurities, your needs and desires, etc They use these all information to manipulate, seduce others, also to protect themselves from other people. How can i develop that kind of intelligence ???
Psychopath with empathy?
A misdiagnosis is possible, but similarly spontaneously recovering is also possible. Someone with Psychopathy cannot also experience empathy at the same time, but as far as Psychopathy and Anti-social Personality Disorder are concerned, they are rarely permanent and can get worse, get better or return at any time. If the person is no longer suffering from it, then a retrospective diagnosis is pretty much impossible. Next time symptoms occur, a good way to find out what is happening is via a Positron Emmision Tomography or PET scan. Perhaps approaching a doctor and asking for that would be the way forward. Unfortunately the history of Psychology is littered with misdiagnoses and dangerous surgery, so if this diagnosis was made 30 years ago I wouldn't hang too much weight on it. Also, the diagnoses made were largely sexist too. I presume the person you are talking about is female on the basis that males were hardly ever referred to as 'hysterical'. Lastly, not all psychopaths are serial killers, most of them have no history of violence at all. It just means, when they do something bad, they feel no remorse or pain concerning their actions. You could suffer from Psychopathy and be a fully functioning and utterly brilliant member of society! Hope this helps.
I can switch on/off my empathy at will. Am I a psychopath?
You're absolutely not a psychopath.I can't turn on and off empathy. I really want to be able to because I'm sure it would make life and relationships easier, but I can't.Even when a family member has something bad happen I hear myself saying “oh no that's awful, can I help you in any way? ” inside I know I don't give a shit about what they just said and if it's a stranger I'm practically not even listening.It's like shaking an empty shell. There's nothing there.I often forget to follow up on things like this. For example a young cousin of mine got tested for bowel cancer,the entire family was impatiently waiting on the results,but I wasnt, i'd forgotten, I'd forgotten because I didn't give a shit about the results. Positive by the way. My thoughts “great if he dies I'll wear that new black coat to his funeral”Personally my life would be a lot easier if I could emphasize,but it's just not there. There's nothing there. I can't feel bad about that earthquake, that train crash, people with illnesses. If I see a road accident I'll walk on by unaffected.Can I feel empathy for myself, absolutely!!I find myself wondering what's my next best thing to say in conversation, it never flows. It's got to be scripted a few seconds before so I don't say something totally cruel that's funny to me,but alas not so funny to others.I'd like to be like everyone else, caring about people, thinking about others feelings, being thoughtful, not thriving on their misery, although it does seem like a lot of work. I don't know how people keep up with all that emotion.It's funny people can sense more about you than they know. Everyone I know, knows there's something not completely right about me,but they doubt themselves.Don't doubt yourself people. If you think someone's not completely there. You're probably right.
What do sadists who lack empathy (narcs, psychopaths) think/feel when they inflict pain without consent? What do they really want with this? What’s the point?
I am not a psychopath or a narcissist, but my affective empathy is impaired and I am a sadist so I will answer.When I inflict pain on a nonconsenting person, I feel arousal and euphoria since I am a sexual sadist. It doesn't matter whether the pain is physical or emotional; knowing that I am the direct cause of someone else's suffering gives me a high. I'll really only talk about emotional sadism here because that is the only kind that I can indulge in without risking my freedom.I am usually inattentive to others, but when I'm hurting them I become extremely aware of their emotional state and behavior. Every word that they say is analyzed by me, especially if they're nice enough to tell me when I'm hurting them and describe how they're feeling in detail.I once had a “friend” who would always tell me when I hurt her, what I did that hurt her, and describe how hurt that she was in depth. She knew that I am a sadist, so I don't know why she thought that describing her pain in detail would make me feel bad. At one point she finally realized that I was taking pleasure in her pain and got even more upset about it. It was funny because the more upset that she became, the better I felt and the more severe my abuse became.I did that to her because it felt good. That was the only reason that I hurt her and that is usually the only reason that I would hurt other innocent people. I don't do it often though because it is necessary for me to have a somewhat good reputation. The only people that I won't hurt in any way are those that I care about. There are only two of them, so everyone else is fair game.I hope that answered your question.
Am I a psychopath or sociopath? I have been shown to share sociopathic traits such as uncontrolled rage, but I’ve also shown psychopathic traits such as lack of empathy and emotional deficit. Which am I?
I can't tell you which one of the two, if either you are. If you have received the diagnosis as you say you have then there is a lot of information here that other diagnosed psychopaths have put up. I being one of them. Something important to remember, the last part of the brain to complete it's growth and connections is the part that is understanding the responsibility of your own actions and predicting consequences. The reason why psychopaths are not diagnosed at younger rates it because the person has to mature into their adult brain first, or their behavior can look quite psychopathic, when in reality they have yet to hit that maturity mark. The age that the brain finishes development is around twenty five. So not being diagnosed until your older is just prudent. You seem to now have gotten the diagnosis and are looking for information. There are a lot of people who will tell you that a psychopath or a sociopath wouldn't bother asking your question. That isn't true, at all. I can tell you from not only my own experience but with talking with others that are officially diagnosed we always knew we were different. It takes nothing for us to identify that we are the odd man out and have to wear a mask in order to be understood and accepted. We hone our masks for daily use and there is a definite difference between who we are outside and who we are in private. You know your emotional responses are very different than everyone else's. You probably have said things that are socially unacceptable only to see that no one else thinks like you do. You just know you aren't like them.Knowing that and seeking out why isn't strange at all. there is a lot of information about us out there, and a lot of us do write answers here. If you're like us, read through our answers. A number of times I have read someone else's answer or someone reads mine and there is a mutual understanding that you don't find outside of our wiring. There are quite a few answers regarding psychopathic ans sociopathic differences. Read through Jim Noblin, Jacob Wells, and my own answers for a good base to begin with. We have all at some point or another linked videos we found helpful, and probably answered a lot of what you are wondering about.
Could my brother be a 'partial' psychopath?
He's 20 now, but he grew up secretly abusing animals. He admitted it to my uncle and doesn't think it's a big deal. I know he feels empathy (psychopaths have none) because he's my brother and i can tell when he's faking it. He definitely feels for family and friends (i've seen him cry as a kid but never as an adult) but is really heartless towards animals. Maybe our abusive upbringing has something to do with it but i doubt he's a textbook psychopath. One time when he was drunk with a couple friends, he was telling them details on how he used a cat like a rag doll by swinging it into walls and windows until it stopped screaming and died from all the internal bruising and how it was covered in shards of broken glass. He was laughing when he told that story and only one of his friends said "That's seriously f###ed up dude, i think you need help". i know you guys are not doctors but could someone be Partially psychopathic??
I am a nonviolent psychopath. I do not feel guilt, empathy, or remorse. Not because I don't want to but because I can't. I have known this since I was 7-years old. I just don't feel what other people feel. Does that make me a bad person?
To be honest, the general population is terrified of psychopaths for a reason, because they don't stop at anything to fulfill their goals. It's somewhat like one of the favourite scenarios from Hollywood horror movies - the world getting invaded and being ruled by intelligent machines. Someone who is intelligent, but doesn't feel anything and doesn't care about anyone, is very dangerous and capable of doing terrible things. It's very hard for me to grasp the concept of someone not feeling what is right or wrong; my favourite piece of advice is "Don't do to others what you don't want to happen to you". From my perspective, it's impossible to imagine how someone can not understand why it's wrong to hurt other people, or not be sad when, for example, their parent dies. It's all just so beyond my comprehension that I can't even begin trying to understand it.Since you were born that way and are unable to change, it's not your fault that you're a psychopath. However, if you do bad things to other people in order to fulfill your goals (doesn't necessarily have to be criminal or violent things), I would have to say you are a bad person.