Clearing Up the Pop Culture References

It's sad how much film and pop culture can have an influence on society's perceptions of psychology.  Most infamously was the mixing up of the term schizophrenic and multiple personality disorder, otherwise known as dissociative disorder.  "Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that makes it hard to: Tell the difference between what is real and not real; Think clearly; Have normal emotional responses; Act normally in social situations."  It has nothing to do with the splitting of the personality, but thanks to modern entertainment, the definitions were confused. "Dissociative disorders are conditions that involve disruptions or breakdowns of memory, awareness, identity or perception. People with dissociative disorders use dissociation, a defense mechanism, pathologically and involuntarily."  Although the two are similar in their deviations from the real world, you would never see a schizophrenic with multiple personalities.  Although perceptions are unstable for schizophrenics, the self is unstable for the dissociative.

Media has a profound impact on how we perceive the things that are outside the realm of our daily life. For many, it is their only window, into what some of us have actually lived.  Therefore it becomes the baseline of expectations when those things actually occur, such as criminal behavior. Serial killers are a favorite for police dramas, and solving crimes a large section of our daily programming.  However the technology and equipment available to CSI are not often found in small or rural communities.  We've all seen the kidnappings where the cops are at the house, waiting for the kidnapper to call. But that's Hollywood. In my experience, it was being dragged in to report the crime, then the rape kit, the photos, the videoing of my testimony, then our interactions were mostly done unless something new came up.  There were patrols, and they finally caught my ex driving slow on the interstate in Kansas, where he tried to plead insanity. I suppose that doesn't make good television though, so Hollywood mixes things up.  Rarely do people consider that when watching a show. Perhaps America has media induced schizophrenia where most don't know what is real or unreal until they've experienced it for themselves.

This blog is mainly on the differences between psychopaths and sociopaths.  Media has used them interchangeably, and in many ways they are the same condition.  The big difference is that psychopaths are born, and sociopaths are made, nature versus nurture, if you will. Otherwise they are virtually the same thing.

Psychopaths' brains literally do not function in a normal way, from birth. This is one of the reasons that there is no cure for psychopaths.  Their brains show low activity in certain areas of the frontal and temporal lobes linked to empathy, morality and self-control.  The expression of this and the behaviors are the same in sociopathy, the only difference being that sociopaths were not born, they were made. Sociopathy became used in reference to the violation of social norms and antisocial behavior inherent in the pathology.

Antisocial is another term that is widely misused in association with introverted or avoidant people as well as others less likely to socialize in a typically extroverted way.  However Antisocial at its meaning, means against society and antisocial personality disorder  is a personality disorder characterized by a pervasive pattern of disregard for, or violation of, the rights of others.  This may be expressed through lying, manipulation, and abuse, both mental and physical.  Antisocial Personality Disorder is classified under Dramatic personality disorders, alongside narcissistic and histrionic and can express similar qualities. Just in case you were wondering what's wrong with drama queens, you'll probably find it under dramatic personality disorders.

These antisocial behaviors are what separate the psycho/sociopath from what can often seem like narcissistic personality disorder.  The lack of empathy is the same, but the psychopath causes far more destruction through antisocial behavior which can be easily observed in psychopaths from the characteristics expressed below.

Psychopathy Checklist-Revised: Factors, Facets, and Items^[1]

Factor 1	Factor 2	Other items
Facet 1: Interpersonal Glibness/superficial charm Grandiose sense of self-worth Pathological lying Conning/manipulative Facet 2: Affective Lack of remorse or guilt Emotionally shallow Callous/lack of empathy Failure to accept responsibility for own actions	Facet 3: Lifestyle Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom Parasitic lifestyle Lack of realistic, long-term goals Impulsivity Irresponsibility Facet 4: Antisocial Poor behavioral controls Early behavioral problems Juvenile delinquency Revocation of conditional release Criminal versatility	Many short-term marital relationships Promiscuous sexual behavior

Compared to a control brain (top), neuroscientist James Fallon’s brain (bottom)
shows significantly decreased activity in areas of the frontal lobe linked to
empathy and morality—anatomical patterns that have been linked
with psychopathic behavior. Image via James Fallon

Another misconception about psychopaths is that they must be violent criminals or serial killers, but the fact is that there are many psycho/sociopaths surrounding us on a daily basis. I've seen the percentage of society being as low as 4% and as high as 10%.  That means that you probably know one in your life and both of you probably don't know it. You might even really like them, and that is par for the course. Because of the psychopath's superficial charm and lack of inhibition socially, he/she is usually well received socially. Despite their antisocial behaviors, they are the kings and queens of first impressions.  They can lie without compunction, which does not set off the normal red flags found in people with healthy brains attempting to lie.  Unless you found them standing over a body when you first met them, most people don't think, "What a nice psychopath".

Their true nature takes time to reveal, but just because they are a psychopath doesn't mean they are physically dominating the people around them. Neuroscientist, James Fallon was researching serial killers, when he discovered that he was a psychopath by accident. Instead of concealing the knowledge, he applied what he knew of himself to further untangling the mystery of psychopathy. His domination of others was more emotional than physical, but the signs are there.

“I’m obnoxiously competitive. I won’t let my grandchildren win games. I’m kind of an asshole, and I do jerky things that piss people off,” he says. “But while I’m aggressive, my aggression is sublimated. I’d rather beat someone in an argument than beat them up.” - James Fallon

After reading that, the percentage of psychopaths doesn't seem quite as foreign or unrealistic.  Fallon never killed or raped anyone, but it was in his blood lines. Read the full article.

In much of psychology, especially with emotional abuse, there are personalities that attract and repel each other like magnets. Codependents and Narcissists have an instantaneous gravitational pull toward each other.  Nature abhors a vacuum, and the empty parts of one attracts what appears to be filled in another.  The same holds true for psychopaths.

Empathic people are natural targets for sociopaths. - "Empaths are ordinary people who are highly perceptive and insightful and belong to the 40% of human beings who sense when something’s not right, who respond to their gut instinct ... empaths have the ability to understand their own emotions, to listen to other people and empathise with their emotions, to express emotions productively and to handle their emotions in such a way as to improve their personal power." Because of this perceptive quality, empaths are the first to detect that something is wrong, and therefore they are a threat to the sociopath's power base, nestled firmly in their dominance and manipulation of others.

Although I was not as well schooled in this before my marriage to a psychopath, I knew one of the reasons my exhusband could not let me go and attacked me was because I had figured him out. I knew when he was lying. I called him out on his crap, and he could no longer get away with things like he had at first.  His power over me was broken. His true face was revealed, and I saw through the mask of his Clark Kent persona that so many believed. To him, this was a punishable offense, because he had woven a network of lies and caught many in his glamour. If I were to point that out, it would all fall apart. His attack started out with gas lighting, and making me feel like I was crazy.  But I am not schizophrenic, I know what is real and what isn't.  So that failed.  His next onslaught was projection. He would tell others that I did to him what he did to me. He would channel all his darker impulses onto me.  He billed me as a liar to negate anything I might say about him.  In the end I felt like I was screaming into the wind and no one would listen, as he even turned my own family against me.  It wasn't until the physical evidence of the attack that people began to take me and my complaints seriously, but the lies of him and other sociopaths that I've attracted still circulate and have done horrible damage to me personally and professionally over the years.

These mean girls on TV who destroy people from the shadows are displaying psychopathic tendencies. This manipulation of others, getting intermediaries to do their work for them, is what is called the SOCIOPATH-EMPATH-APATH TRIAD

"The usual set-up goes like this: the empath is forced to make a stand on seeing the sociopath say or do something underhand. The empath challenges the sociopath, who straight away throws others off the scent and shifts the blame on to the empath. The empath becomes an object of abuse when the apath corroborates the sociopath’s perspective.

The situation usually ends badly for the empath and sometimes also for the apath, if their conscience returns to haunt them or they later become an object of abuse themselves. But, frustratingly, the sociopath often goes scot free.

Sociopaths rarely vary this tried-and-tested formula because it virtually guarantees them success.
Sociopaths draw in apaths by various means: flattery, bribery, disorienting them with lies. A sociopath will go to any lengths to win her game. "

This is the key to the sociopath's success, and while it doesn't involve rape and murder, it's a very affective way to destroy the empath socially.  Unfortunately therapy does not work on psycho/sociopaths and those who have ended up in therapy only use the knowledge to cause more damage and learn to manipulate others more effectively. It may not be as dramatic as crime drama, or as cinematic, but it's from the same destructive source, which leaves many bewildered empaths in its wake whose lives will never be the same. Although psychopaths can lead relatively normal lives with marriages and jobs, people need to be aware that running into a psychopath will not be some obvious thing.  Pathological lying, promiscuity, and multiple failed marriages are tells that often the psychopath will keep covert through information control - i.e. secrets, limiting people who one can talk to, attacking people for "talking-about-them", and diminishing the validity of naysayers.  Most of their friends will be relatively new, superficial, or over great distances, because those close to them are more likely to tire over time of mistreatment and lies.

One of the times that Hollywood got a sociopath right was in an episode of Monk. An actor killed his wife, but was playing the victim. Everyone around Monk was sucked in by the murderer, and adored him as they were bribed and invited to parties.  However Monk was onto him, the Empath, while his friends had become Apaths. He seemed the oddball for not rallying to this charismatic actor like everyone else, but he had seen that the actor was a sociopath.  Monk watched the actor lie nonchalantly while on a treadmill. The heart monitor showed no response, and Monk knew he was a sociopath.  Monk's protests were marginalized and minimized more and more.  Others turned against him and toward the charismatic liar.  But being Hollywood,  Monk obviously came out on top in the end.  But in real life, that's not always the case.  But I suppose that's the difference between reality and fiction.

"The difference between reality and fiction? 

Fiction has to make sense." - Tom Clancy

I have another blog on psychopaths with more detailed information that I collected. Read it here.