How to spot a psychopath

by Mad Sweeney 16 Replies latest jw friends

  • wobble
    wobble

    The GB's cold hard attitude to the R&F JW's is psychopathic in nature.

  • Heaven
    Heaven

    Mad Sweeney, thank you for posting the article. It wasn't until after I left my husband and started doing some research that I discovered he had 'psychopathic' behavioural issues. It would be interesting to see the questionnaire.

    I definitely stayed too long in the marriage, hoping he would take my advice to get help, hoping he cared enough about me and the relationship, hoping he would change. It didn't happen so I had to make some hard choices about my life. He knows he has issues and thinks he can fix them himself. He's never been able to. But he is trying and I guess that counts for something. We are still friends and he counts me as one of few best friends.

    My JW upbringing and my parents subsequent dedication to the cult has actually had the opposite affect than what the Society hopes to accomplish with their members. It helped me to realize that discarding people from your life should really be a last resort -- ie, so what if someone doesn't believe everything you do as long as they are good and kind people? Only when people are doing you major amounts of harm should you consider removing them from your life. It has been my goal to shed the judgmental attitudes I was raised with and to try to be a more kind and understanding person. I have my limits when it comes to my ex but we still help each other and are still a part of each other's lives to a certain degree.

    I think it is good to be armed with what defines a psychopath so you can be better informed and be able to identify the signs in order to protect yourself.

  • Mad Sweeney
    Mad Sweeney

    I found it fascinating and suspected it would be a hit here. You can apply the test (for 'fun' purposes only of course) to anyone you know. Rate the person 0, 1, or 2 for each Item, then total your numbers. If they score 30 or more they're a psychopath. Score in the high 20s and they have psychopathic tendencies. From the article:

    "Their conclusions became the basis for his now-famous 20-point Hare PCL-R . Which was this:

    Item 1 Glibness/superficial charm

    Item 2 Grandiose sense of self-worth

    Item 3 Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom

    Item 4 Pathological lying

    Item 5 Cunning/manipulative

    Item 6 Lack of remorse or guilt

    Item 7 Shallow affect

    Item 8 Callous/lack of empathy

    Item 9 Parasitic lifestyle

    Item 10 Poor behavioural controls

    Item 11 Promiscuous sexual behaviour

    Item 12 Early behaviour problems

    Item 13 Lack of realistic long-term goals

    Item 14 Impulsivity

    Item 15 Irresponsibility

    Item 16 Failure to accept responsibility for own actions

    Item 17 Many short-term marital relationships

    Item 18 Juvenile delinquency

    Item 19 Revocation of conditional release

    Item 20 Criminal versatility

    Hare said if he were to score himself either 0, 1 or 2 on each item of his checklist, he'd probably get a four or a five out of the possible 40. Tony in Broadmoor had told me that on the three occasions they scored him, he got around a 29 or a 30."

  • C6H12O6
    C6H12O6

    Yay I got 24 on that list!

  • Mad Sweeney
    Mad Sweeney

    I only score a 2. Seriously.

  • frankiespeakin
  • cultBgone
    cultBgone

    Great, my ex is a solid 28 (with me being generous). I'm a 3.

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