Seeing is (not) believing

A reader discusses how she didn't really believe that her friend was a sociopath:

Obviously at that time I had no idea about those boundaries and actually at the time I didn't even take seriously about J being diagnosed as ASPD. So I really had no idea who I was dealing with. I thought falsely that time, since I didn't know much about sociopathy, that it was just an excuse for people acting like dicks and to murder people. I thought that they had weak impulse control because they weren't strong enough to control themselves and other people enabled them too much. Even when she tried to explain to me seriously I just kinda blew it off in disbelief.

Even in reading sociopathworld I felt disbelief mostly because I saw the comments and I thought a lot of those people were idiots and also narcissists and were not really sociopaths. Now months after the fact I know better that sociopathy is very real and most likely has to do with genetics and of course, environment. I still though believe a lot of the comments are from people that are confused about their identity or are narcissists.

I don't know if you have ever revealed to any of your friends that you were diagnosed with ASPD or if they even know that you own sociopathworld, but if you ever did reveal your diagnosis what was their response? If the sociopath was very talented at wearing their masks I think most people would react just like me in disbelief and blow it off.

Also on the topic of masks, do you ever get weary of wearing all these various masks? And out of all the masks which one do you prefer to wear the most?

I think the mask J wears the most is the one where she is the cute and charming flirt. This mask comes with a sweet mouth full of compliments that she dispenses freely. She is easy to talk to and a bit of a tease, smiles easily and laughs even when she is secretly annoyed on the inside. The combination of her coming off as already cute and pretty with an amiable personality makes a deadly combination and lets her catch her prey so effortlessly. Men and women alike fall under her spell so easily and lulled into a sense of security not even realizing that they might possibly be taken advantage of. It's fascinating like watching a siren playing with her hair and singing while leading men to their impending doom. Even for you, I can almost see your blog as like an army or cult and you are the head priest.

Oh, one last thing do you ever feel like you can't trust charming people the most? Before I met J I was already suspicious of people who were charming. It confuses me how easily people can be befuddled or lose any kind of rationality once they meet someone who is BSing hard to their face and acting friendly. To me those are always the ones to look out for cause they want something from you.