Psychopaths; not all are serial killers

Not all psychopaths are serial killers. Most have never performed a physically violent act. Many get their pleasure by hurting other people; hurting them emotionally, mentally, economically.

Seeming to fit perfectly into society many are extremely successful. This is because they are not hobbled by emotions, a sense of right or wrong, or any of the restrictions others perceive. They will do anything without remorse because they are incapable of feeling remorse.

Unlike a wacko like Charles Manson who is clearly a perfect example of a psychopath, most are not diagnoised. They may never see the inside of a mental institution or even be suspected. This is because they seem to fit in so well.

Robert Hare, considered the expert in psychopathy, created this twenty point check 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

J.D. is a psychopath. He has never killed anyone; physically. He has left a lifetime of destruction behind him, from his siblings relationship to their parents, to the love affairs of his so-called friends. He has gotten people to lose their jobs, lose their homes, and sits back as if watching a pleasant pasture.

He can not feel. He does not use 'feel' words unless one prompts him or he is alerted that they are expected.

With a deep contempt for people, he relishes how easy they are to manipulate. How so few people have ever questioned the lies he has told.

With pride he describes how he destroyed a 'friends' marriage by a few veiled remarks suggesting she was unfaithful.

He boasts about "turning my idiot sister against our mother so that I became the only one who cared about her, so she left me the bulk of her property".

Not that he needs the value as he is an extremely successful businessman.

Reading over the check list one is struct by the fact that the bulk of the traits can be found among some of the most successful people in society.

This terrifying fact has not been lost on the psychiatric community which warns that there are far more psychopaths than we have come to assume.

As portrayed in J.D. the behaviour is not unusual. Many of us can point to the evil lie that was told to us or about us upon which we or others acted. Many of us have been tricked by those we trusted who show no remorse.

Think of those business owners who can close down a factory, and disappear, or those who have never paid us for work down, or tricked us out of our savings.

Many of these people are psychopaths and just because they didn't kill ten people or cannibalise their roommate does not mean they are not.