How to spot the psychopath

Despite the popular image, not all psychopaths become killers. Most people nd psychopaths intriguing, even charming, but can’t quite work out why!

Common traits include supercial charm, a grandiose notion of self-worth, the need for stimulation and impulsiveness, pathological lying, the ability to manipulate others and a lack of remorse and empathy.

One reason could be down to sometimes quirky or incongruous behaviour because psychopaths tend to do a lot of acting to deceive, even mimicking normal reactions or even quickly changing their views and reactions as the situation demands, sometimes even displaying an air of superiority.

Psychopaths strive to be ‘the most interesting person in the room’, latching on to mutual interests and exuding charm by the bucketload. The psychopath’s responses also give away another common trait — a grandiose notion of their own self-worth and occasionally exhibiting unconvincing emotional responses, with slip-ups including tone of voice and body language. Psychopaths are unable to understand emotions such as fear and love, but they can mimic them.

Psychopaths display dierent traits depending on their disorder, but common signs include supercial charm and the ability to manipulate others. But generally psychopaths’ ’emotions’ are shallow and short-lived and there is a manipulative ulterior motive to showing them. Psychopaths possess a nely tuned ability to manipulated others… and take pleasure in doing so. 

But beneath the charm, which is always insincere, often oering to do favours and share secrets to gain your complete trust, their true goal is you complete and utter destruction.