Today I came across a fascinating article about a man (Tony) who faked insanity to get transferred from prison to a mental institution.
The story in itself is reminiscent of the “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” world that’s portrayed in the novel Catch-22. Once you’re diagnosed as mentally ill, it’s hard to prove you’re not. And if you are diagnosed as being a psychopath, it’s even harder to prove you aren’t.
Case in point: Tony went through a phase where he refused to cooperate and spent most of his time alone in his cell at Broadmoor, the institution where he was imprisoned. This, unfortunately, only reinforced the perception of Tony’s psychopathy.
On the outside, Tony said, not wanting to spend time with your criminally insane neighbours would be a perfectly understandable position. But on the inside it demonstrates you’re withdrawn and have a grandiose sense of your own importance. In Broadmoor, not wanting to hang out with insane killers is a sign of madness.
Such are the paradoxes that exist inside the walls of institutions for psychopaths and the mentally ill.
I discovered there is actually a check list to determine if somebody is a psychopath. It is called Hare’s Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), and it is the most commonly used tool to assess a person’s psychopathy.
Each of the 20 items is scored a 0, 1, or 2. If a person receives a combined score of more than 30 points out of 40 possible points, then he is considered a “psychopath.” Here is the list:
- 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
What strikes me about this list is how many of these qualities apply to me and people I know. Call me crazy, but it seems to me we’re all a little bit psychopathic, if you know what I mean.
So we’re not dealing with a black and white method for determining psychopathy, but rather shades of gray. Not only that, genuine psychopaths are just as likely to go into finance and business as they are to engage in purely criminal pursuits. From the article:
After the conference, though, [Robert] Hare seemed introspective. He said, almost to himself, “I shouldn’t have done my research just in prisons. I should have spent some time inside the Stock Exchange as well.”
“But surely stock-market psychopaths can’t be as bad as serial-killer psychopaths,” I said.
“Serial killers ruin families,” shrugged Hare. “Corporate and political and religious psychopaths ruin economies. They ruin societies.”
It wasn’t only Hare who believed that a disproportionate number of psychopaths can be found in high places. Over the following months, I spoke to scores of psychologists who all said the same.
I’m willing to bet there are quite a few psychopaths shilling on Wall Street, passing laws in D.C., and manning the helms of U.S. banks. I’m also willing to bet there are a fair number selling their wares on the Internet, too.
This is why it’s critical to do your due diligence before buying a product or service online, or even joining an affiliate program. The greater the investment and potential loss, the more due diligence is required.
-Ryan M. Healy
P.S. You can distance yourself from psychopaths by becoming a member of Paid On Time and displaying the affiliate trust seal on your affiliate program sign-up page.
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About Ryan M. Healy
Ryan Healy is a direct response copywriter. Since 2002, he has worked with scores of clients, including BoostCTR, Alex Mandossian, Terry Dean, and Pulte Homes. He writes a popular blog about copywriting, advertising, and business growth, has been featured in publications like Feed Front magazine, and is a regular contributor to WordStream.com, BoostCTR.com, and MarketingForSuccess.com.
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I had a friend years ago that took an abnormal psych class and for a while, he said, it messed him up because he thought he had “all of the symptoms” of what he learned. Having a thought does not constitute a habit or an action, but it does make you wonder.
Good point, Kevin. :-)
I agree. What you think and what you do are two different things. We have the ability to choose what we do and this requires some self-reflection and compassion for others. Ultimately,we are responsible for our actions -not our thoughts.
I spotted a few traits that apply to me, but in effect, it really is a large collection of those traits that make the psychopath. As humans we all have moments of selfishness, but what sets us apart from psychos is a sense of remorse, the ability to learn from our mistakes and most importantly, taking responsibility for our actions.
Great post Ryan.
Looking at psychological descriptions and checklists of disorders is almost like reading your horoscope. If you think hard enough, you can almost make any of them apply to you.
Ironically enough, I actually worked with a genuine psycopath for about 10 years. Let me tell you, there is NOTHING on EARTH scarier than one of these people in your workplace.
They are consumate liars. They are entertaining. They are charming. They have an “exit strategy” for ANY TIME they get caught in a lie or backed into a corner. They will sandbag you at meetings. They have an uncanny ability to “posture” in front of higher-ups and get them to buy it. They look for weaknesses to exploit in every single person around them and are opportunistic predators. They are master manipulators and “game-players”. They have a great sense of superiority and entitlement. They often think that others exist to serve their needs.
The sad part is, these are also the same people who quickly rise through the ranks of their place of employment. It is not until the psychopath has either exhausted all of the resources available to him/her OR realizes that the gig is up that they move on. In rare cases, the victims will stand up for themselves and fire the psychopath. At that point, people are just left shaking their heads going, “What in the hell happened?! How did we let it get it to this point?!”
They realize they’ve been “had”.
There is a great book out there called “Snakes in Suits” by Paul Babiak that EVERY SINGLE person here should read.
Thanks for the excellent comment, Chris.
Thanks, too, for the book recommendation. I’ll check it out.
Ryan, as you said, it’s the degree and consistency of the traits that is telling. Interesting article…
The best psychopaths are disguised behind a mask of normality. You can always judge a book by it cover. Watch you children in particular (don’t leave them with a weird uncle). Still waters run deep. You never know.
I’ve become hyper-sensitive to that issue — who I leave my kids with. Sad that we have to be so vigilant, but that’s the way it is these days.
Heck. I meant to say, “you can’t judge a book by it’s cover. So much for my copywriter career. Oh well. Dyslexia will not stop me. I’m stubborn.
Brain, Thanking you for posting this list as it has endless entertainment value as I apply it to the various psychopaths I encounter everyday in life. BTW, I rated a 6. (Of course, I could be a psychopath and am lying : )
We can do our due diligence, and must, the problem is that while we think we couldn’t possible be fooled because we are smart and aware, the psychopath works his/her “sleight of hand” and we might not see it coming. Very, very smart people are taken in by psychopaths.
Alan – I totally agree: very smart people can be taken in. At least by knowing what to look for we can reduce our risk.
Psychopaths will always be far better at spotting vulnerability than vulnerable people will be at spotting psychopaths. What makes a psychopath? The circle of followers, often friends and family, that surround the psychopath and flatter them with praise and help them justify their abuses and alienate the abused. An easy, convenient victim, often starting with a younger sibling, and the perception that their victim is giving them permission. A society that subtly condones psychopathic behaviour via mass media and “religious” influences. The image that children are branded with that men fighting each other is intrinsically honorable, which sets a precedent to abuse the weak, especially by those who cannot win in a fight against someone their own size and want to exercise control to compensate for their physical inadequacy. An abused person can become a psychopath, or someone who has experienced a hardening trauma. Stigma of such abused people preventing them proper avenues of healing contributes greatly to them abusing others. Once again I blame mainstream religion, which uses group isolation and “political correctness” thought policing in all levels of society, including the schools, medical establishment and workforce. I can’t tell my doctor that I found the church doctrines abusive to my psyche, because of a sign on the wall “no religious discrimination”. Who defines what religious discrimination is? Special interest groups, often spearheaded by psychopaths. The only way to avoid a psychopath: trust NOBODY until you have evidence that supports that they are not a psychopath. For example: someone who rescues a kitten from a burning building: probably not a psychopath. Someone who intentionally harms a pet: very big warning sign of a psychopath. This often doesn’t work, because already-victims often have attachment issues, are charmed too easily, and are thus vulnerable to re-experiencing abuse. Whew that felt good.
Thanks for the comment and insights, Joshua. Good stuff. :-)
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