A Scientific Guide to Psychopaths

Let me make a reservation that I am writing from the point of view of the ICD-10, which is respected in Russia, and not the ICD-11 used by “civilized” countries, so as not to devote half of the article to various unpleasant terms.

First of all, let's start with the terminology. “Psychopath” and “sociopath” are, after all, common terms for such a thing as antisocial personality disorder (APD) – but I will use them as well, so as not to bombard you with the same words.

At one time, the Soviet psychiatrist Pyotr Gannushkin introduced these terms, and that's how they became popular. Although he already classified the pathological personalities he studied into the “antisocial” group – in fact, all your favorite psychopaths and sociopaths.

Why did they even care about this? Because there are a great many antisocial personality disorders. They are all characterized by a reduced level of compassion and extreme egoism and narcissism of the patients, but this is expressed in very different ways. Only 10% of the world's population exhibits APD traits, and those suffering from it are no more than 2%.

Psychopathy is surprisingly similar to the so-called “character accentuations” – striking features of any healthy personality, almost on the edge of the norm, with their negative and positive features. But in the case of antisocial disorder, this is the entire personality, not a feature.

Accentuations do not affect all spheres of life – they are muffled under the influence of external factors, pass with age and do not necessarily lead a person to discord with society. ARL always leads to conflict and affects the individual every second of his life.

It's funny that accentuations often smooth out considerably by the age of 21, so in a sense a psychopath is an “eternal teenager”. Just as vengeful and cruel.

However, psychopaths are not born. Very often, a triggering trauma (preferably in childhood) or brain damage is needed for a person to develop APD. Psychotherapy and psychiatric care can help a sociopath better socialize and control his irascibility, but this will not make him feel compassionate. The exception is when psychopathy is a side effect of another disease that is curable. Unfortunately, the transformation into a psychopath is irreversible in adults, and a predisposition to APD also greatly affects a person’s character – often for the worse.

The classification varies from respected psychiatrist to respected psychiatrist, so it is difficult to say with 100% accuracy who is who. But let's focus on those that are found in almost every scientist. And then we will move on to interesting examples from life. Next, I combined the theories of Peter Gannushkin and Theodore Millon.

Schizoid asocials – if healthy schizoids are just a little withdrawn, then such psychopaths are like from another planet. They are not interested in relationships, pleasures, impressions, beauty. They devote their lives to one craft and if it does not require them to have a good imagination and understanding of people, then they do their job exceptionally well. A real-life example: the status of the best surgeon in Great Britain was once received by a person with a schizoid asocial personality disorder. He was focused on his work and did not care about the fate of the patient, which allowed him to perform operations with very high precision.

Problems with this subtype arise when something gets in the way of achieving heights in their craft of interest. They do not have any warm feelings for other people, murder is quite acceptable for them. The only thing that stops them is the inevitability of punishment. This subtype of ARL may not even be characterized by high irritability and emotionality. But these psychopaths are still dangerous: they are arrogant and cold-blooded, and their manner of communication often corresponds to the common term “bastard”.

Sadists (including paranoid asocials) are the most dangerous type. They love violence and showing their power over other people. They don't care about the form: taking your life or humiliating you in front of everyone, such psychopaths live for the sake of rising above others. They consider themselves exceptionally great, but unlike narcissists, they are ready to cut and kill to confirm this. They can mimic normal people for a long time.

Paranoids react very harshly to betrayal, writing down in this term everything that somehow affects their interests. It is from them that domestic tyrants and control freaks are obtained.

The trigger for the development of a sadist can be bullying from the mother from early childhood. They can also develop due to bullying from the opposite sex in early adolescence, especially in single-parent families. It is the “traumatized” sadists who become serial killers (maniacs), who have an absolutely insane understanding of the world around them, but retain the ability to plan their murders and hide evidence. They can experience sexual arousal while torturing other people and often this is the only way for them to feel at least something.

Real-life example: Edmund Kemper, an American serial killer who was abused by his mother as a child. Despite his high intelligence and outward calm, he ended up beheading his mother, her friend, and 6 other female students.

Only boys become serial killers; women with this disorder almost always choose psychological violence against others and manipulation.

Hysterical psychopaths and narcissists are not always dangerous, but they are very active. Their personal brand of heroin is the attention and adoration of others. They will do anything to remain in the spotlight. While a person with a narcissistic personality trait simply loves praise, but does not mind praise from others, a sick narcissist is irritated when good things are said about someone else. They are the main distributors of gossip and can be the instigators of bullying at school or at work.

They can become good actors or creative people in general, but their pathological aversion to any criticism greatly limits their success… which is even more annoying. They are extremely unpleasant in long-term communication, but in 99% of cases they will simply give you only unpleasant emotions and will not even lay a finger on you. However, they can slander you in a group, so be careful. They rarely resort to physical violence, as they are afraid of prison or retaliation. And the role of the victim allows them to get much more attention from others.

A good example of a narcissist is the character from the series “The Boys” Homelander. Yes, yes, don't be surprised, he is not a sadist. Almost all of his motivations are aimed at being loved. He can resort to violence thanks to his superpowers and impunity. At the same time, in situations where he may stop being everyone's favorite, Homelander is forced to make concessions. A sadist would just kill everyone and not bother.

Everyone's favorite Patrick Bateman from the book/movie American Psycho is also the most similar to a narcissist, but many of his symptoms (such as hallucinations) hint at schizophrenia.

In June 2021, scientists from the United States discovered that people suffering from APD hardly nod and move their heads very little when talking. This is what creates that uncomfortable look that can make you feel the “uncanny valley.” By the way, this feeling allows you to quite accurately identify psychopaths, especially sadists or schizoids.

According to Baylor University, psychopaths are much less likely to “catch” your yawn, although even cats and dogs can do it.

Let's move on to funny things.

In 2012, CFA Magazine published an interesting article titled “The Financial Psychopath Next Door.” In it, American psychiatrist Christopher Bayer, after numerous surveys and studies, came to the conclusion that the number of psychopaths on Wall Street exceeds the average of 2% and is more than 10%.

He explained the attraction of the financial sector for ARL by the fact that sociopaths do not think about the consequences of their transactions and have virtually no anxiety. So when you hear another “conspiracy theory” about Wall Street bigwigs starting wars for profit… Now you have something to think about.

We recall the detached faces of Kevin Feige (Disney) or Mark Zuckerberg (Meta).

At the same time, in the same Nazi Germany there were most likely no more psychopaths than in any other country. Of course, the Nazis encouraged many of the “qualities” inherent in ARL, thanks to which such people achieved recognition and high social status. But we should not forget that people without sociopathy are quite capable of great abominations.

To sum it up, I would like to once again draw attention to some key points: psychopaths are far from their romanticized image in cinema and literature. They are precisely inferior individuals who are deprived of much more than their illness gives in return. Their aspirations are simple and one-dimensional in the manner of teenagers, they do not understand the rules of society and do not experience many emotions, which makes them less interesting. They are still able to mimic ordinary people well if they have high intelligence, but any sensitive empath will see through them pretty quickly.

And even more so, there is no masculinity, fortitude or self-confidence in them, only a hidden, almost hysterical vanity.

If you are confused by the presence of many features inherent to certain psychopaths, do not hesitate to seek help from psychiatrists and psychotherapists. According to statistics, you most likely do not have an antisocial personality disorder, so it will not be so difficult to fix all the problems.

Author: Arseniy Kharitonov

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