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A psychopath is not a character from a movie: running around, bloodthirsty and ready to kill you on sight.
Have you ever wondered if someone you know has these traits? Contrary to popular belief, not every person with these traits is a murderer or criminal. Staying with someone with psychopathic traits may not put your life at risk but can cause difficulties for you.
They have psycopathic personality disorder, which is classified as an antisocial personality disorder. This illness is distinguished by a lack of empathy, lack of guilt and antisocial behavior.
Movies and social media love to portray psycopathic tendencies as insanity to assure a box office blockbuster, but that's not always the case in real life.
Warning signs of a psychopath
It's important to remember that a qualified mental health worker or a therapist needs to do a full evaluation to diagnose psychopathy or any other mental disorder.
Here are some symptoms of psychopath that can help you identify them:
1) Head movement
Psychopaths don't move their heads as much when they talk as other people do. A research observed how the heads of 507 inmates moved while they talked and found that those with "severe and lifelong antisocial behavior" had more rigid heads than others.
This was an interesting discovery, as it's generally expected that a liar would move and fidget a lot. According to the study, one idea is that people with psychopathic traits move their heads in one place on purpose.
2) Odd sleeping patterns
One of the main signs of anti-social behavior is an odd sleeping pattern. As they spend large amounts of time on enhancing productivity, working on their charisma and charm, it's likely they compromise on their sleep. They may spend nights to work on something they feel may help them.
3) Fake smiles
They may not smile all the way to their eyes when they do. Their smiles can look fake or forced, without the real warmth and feeling that usually come with a real smile.
4) Lack of nervousness
Psychopaths are usually calm and collected, even when they're in situations that would make most people worried or anxious. They might be able to keep their cool and show few physical signs of worry.
5) Yawning
Ever yawned when someone near you did the same thing? An individual with psychopathic traits may not do so.
A tell-tale characteristic of psychopaths is lowered empathy, which indicates that their mirror neurons may not be mimicking the non-verbal language you display. In a way cold-heartedness would be directly correlated to these tendencies.
6) Low accountability
They often try to avoid taking responsibility for their actions by putting the blame on other people. They might blame someone else or make up a long list of reasons why they shouldn't have to face the results of their actions.
7) Hand gestures
Psychopaths may have trouble controlling their hand movements in front of others while communicating.
Research shows that individuals with the trait use more beat hand movements than other people. It doesn't mean that using your hands when you talk is a sure sign that you're a psychopath.
When someone says 'beat gestures', they mean up-and-down or back-and-forth movements that emphasize certain parts of words. This is a form of manipulation that can be used to draw your attention to a certain part of a sentence or away from something else.
8) Predatory gaze
Some may look at you with an intense, penetrating gaze that can make you feel scared or like they are after you. They might keep eye contact with other people for longer than normal, using it as a way to scare or control them.
9) Shallow eye contact
People with these tendencies may have a shallow or deceptive eye contact. They may make only brief eye contact that isn't nice or meaningful. However, it's important to remember that making eye contact isn't enough to tell if someone is a psychopath.
10) Excessive talk
Individuals with sociopathic traits may talk oddly a lot about food, money and intimate relationships.
For example, if you were to have a conversation with them about something grave and serious, they would return to talking about something related to these.
Having an association with a psychopath can be hard, whether it's with a parent, sibling or partner.
You might find it helpful to talk to a licensed therapist to get the help you need to set and keep boundaries and figure out how you feel about anything that's making you feel confused.
Janvi Kapur is a counselor with a Master's degree in applied psychology with a specialization in clinical psychology.
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