I don't think the ability to be detached emotionally and to be charming is a disorder. Other cultures account for these personalities as within the realm of human variety, and only the United States pathologizes it. Ayurveda, for example, states that a certain subtype - the Pitta Vata - is more prone to be creative/charming and adaptable at their best, while angry and vindictive at their worst. Accordingly, Ayurveda gives specific lifestyle and diet recommendations so that people don't go off into the more negative part of the spectrum.
Additionally, I should add that in modern medical literature, strong emotional reactions, depression and mood instability in general is correlated with imbalances in the intestinal microbiome. There are many studies that are now verifying the validity of traditional cultures' consumption of fermented foods and bone broth that effectively help heal the gut (other great options are the SCD Diet, the GAPS diet, and treatment for Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)), thereby improving mood stability.
Who knows whether any of this is actually accurate, but is at least an interesting hypothetical to consider, specifically should we take a page out of the Ayurveda's book and try to find some way to help our sociopaths play to their strengths and be socialized enough so that they can be a net positive? Or maybe up the smear campaign and hope that they all kill themselves for shame? Or maybe do some more, truly objective research that would give us a better idea of what our options really are?
I don't think the ability to be detached emotionally and to be charming is a disorder. Other cultures account for these personalities as within the realm of human variety, and only the United States pathologizes it. Ayurveda, for example, states that a certain subtype - the Pitta Vata - is more prone to be creative/charming and adaptable at their best, while angry and vindictive at their worst. Accordingly, Ayurveda gives specific lifestyle and diet recommendations so that people don't go off into the more negative part of the spectrum.
ReplyDeleteI love this!
It's not the creative/charming part that is a negative. It's the angry/vengeful shape shifting lizard part that creates havoc and pain for others. Malignant Narcissist?
Deleteit is really a good one, Alterego.
DeleteDo you know the diets that were mentioned?
Yeah , just looked it up. tomatoes are bad for you??Pineapple and oranges too?
DeleteI think foods are a factor, but so are all substances that interfere with the prefrontal cortex. Being in a place of emotional equilibrium is always stability enhancing because there is less going on internally that can cause irritability. ME's example about her painful appendix episode seems to be an extreme example of this. If foods can help, great, but so can getting enough sleep, not abusing substances, and keeping your body functioning at an optimal level. Also, daily cardio workouts do a lot to improve child and pet behavior- probably true for all of us. The mind and the body are so interconnected.
DeleteNo. I am not familiar with Ayurvedic medicine, but I like that the "sociopathic" personality type is recognized as a natural human variant, encompassing both positive and negative traits, without being automatically pathologized.
Deletei like that too.
DeleteI like this:" I don't think the ability to be detached emotionally and to be charming is a disorder."
and i like this: "a certain subtype - the Pitta Vata - is more prone to be creative/charming and adaptable at their best, while angry and vindictive at their worst."
They are kind words.
I am going to look up the diet the commenter mentioned. I hope you had a nice day.
This is very encouraging to read. It does seem more logical to see there being an intended role in nature for those considered psychopaths rather than being an aberration or flaw.
DeleteI think the statistic I read somewhere was that approximately 4% are psychopaths. This seems to be exactly the proportion of managers you'd need for any group. Those that can make hard or even life and death decisions dispassionately for the preservation of their tribe, corporation, or nation. The fact that those same people tend to be gifted with an easy charm to persuade others and that they naturally migrate to positions of power would seem to reinforce this. What would be perceived as evil by the recipient might be seen as good to the group following the psychopath who subsequently have food to eat for the winter, a surplus of wives to mate with, or more valuable stocks.
The fact that I see myself equating the decimation of a rival tribe with acquiring increased stock value is not lost on me. Humorous to me though in it's own way...
I hate to always say this, but it is the lack of conscience/empathy that is the problem. Not the charm or logic or lack of overt emotions.
ReplyDeletewhat foods help sociopaths be less sociopathy?
ReplyDeletefat fat men have less testosterone
Deleteand you'll be to lazy to do harm
Deletecream of wheat with hot milk and honey.
DeleteHonestly, high carbs. Eating a paleo diet will bring out a more energized predator. Also scientifically proven to make you think more clearly and faster.
DeleteThe high carb diet encouraged by USDA is great for creating sheep. Slow, complacent and compliant with shorter lifespans. Thus why alcohol is probably the only legal high. Accomplishes all the above.
I dont know if there are any foods that help sociopaths be less sociopathy. All I can suggest is eat more blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, fruits. lots of fruit
DeleteListen to your gut learn to listen to what is good for you versus what is not good for you.
DeleteI think FAT FAT women have less too!
ReplyDeleteThe fact is some traits that we regard to be sociopathic ARE the most
ReplyDeletelogical and helpful traits to have but most people are oblivious to them.
Take the case of a person who seems to have a "subdued" reaction to a tragic
event.
According to most people it is not normal to behave indifferently when
your child is gone. But if Casey Anthony really knew the child was dead
what good would crying do? The event is passed and grieving would change
nothing. She even subscribed to the motto "Forget about the past, and look
to the future."
The "sociopathic" idea of "cutting your loses" and living in the now,
correlates to the eastern principle of non-identification. There would
be a lot less nurois if people didn't cry over spilt milk and missed
oppertunities. All this stuff about Patriotism and identifing with religion has to do identification. If you don't identify with anything
only then can you be unconserned with outcomes. This is why the sociopath
almost always keeps his cool, because he knows it's his cool to keep.
The naracism of the sociopath is actually helpful because in his selfish-
ness he sees it's not the event that matters but it's his reaction to
the event.
As far as food is concerned, people will only behave in percieved self
intrest. You're not going to change the world because most people lack
the perceptive ability to see how they're hurting themselves with
inferior diets. To be educated, you have to be open to the possibilites
and most peoples minds are closed. The powers-that-be like the status quo
because it's money in thier pocket.
It is something I find strange. Being calm, resilient, stoic, and charming are just the classical qualities of manliness. The perfect man is a sociopath. Being overtly empathic for a male would likely have been frowned upon not long ago.
ReplyDeleteTHat is crazy. There is no such thing as perfect first of all. A good man knows when it is safe enough to show his sensitive side. If he ever does it around you, then you know he can love you. All stoic and you do not feel you can attach.
Deletea sociopath can only fake overt empathy. He better fake it well. - But faking implies that there is not truth. If there is not truth then this is far from perfection.
It is proven scientific fact that women are drawn to dark triad personalities. These traits are exactly what lesser men strive to imitate. Also, likely a reason it's so reviled. Pure envy.
DeleteMore humorous to me is that as I go down the list of negative traits of a psychopath, they are all exhibited by women on a normal basis. Either genetically they are natural psychopaths or society has bred them to see it as acceptable behavior with no negative consequences. It was more funny to me coming to that realization while reading a paper written by two female PHD's who failed to see this irony.
I think a good sociopath (perfect man) can fake empathy well, come off as motherly and caring, and actually be motherly and caring in the process.
DeleteI have great respect for my sociopath friend it is sad things ended up the way they did and I have no idea what goes on in his head but he was like the best friend ever. Like you could not have a better friend/child/student/employee than him.
DeleteWould make a terrible parent though.
DeleteIn my experience as a neuroscience academic and high-functioning socio, it is entirely possible to be a societally functional sociopath. I've started to view it more as a mutually beneficial form of social symbiosis - If I treat a group of people as my friends and make a conscious decision to treat these people as 'on my side', I am virtually the perfect social group leader.
ReplyDeleteI'm increasingly convinced that narcissists and 'borderline/histrionic' personalities are simply different end-points of the same psychological starting point; true sociopaths are simply those who correctly recognise their own selfish perspective rather than forming deeply neurotic systems of self-justification and becoming socially pernicious. This is also in my opinion the reason for the almost instinctive disgust sociopaths feel at meeting narcissists.. They strike me as vastly psychological childish in a way that causes me to lose all respect near instantly.
In practice, I increasingly suspect that the only difference between being recognised as a monster and being recognised as 'heroic' is choosing a side.
This is something I have difficulty understanding. To me it seems that the inherent superiority felt by a socio/psycho path is by definition narcissistic.
DeleteI read the above, and dissecting it...
"virtually the perfect social group leader"
"sociopaths are simply those who correctly recognise(sic)..."- extolling the more evolved, superior self analysis.
"They strike me as...childish"
I think anyone reading the above would find it objectively narcissistic. But then one of the hallmarks of a psychopath is that they don't see the cognitive dissonance of their own statements.
Don't misunderstand me, if actually objectively superior (smarter, more beautiful, more athletic, etc), I don't see narcissism as undeserved. It seems to me that it is an inherent part of being a successful sociopath. Maybe I simply misunderstand the clinical definitions at hand.
I'm increasingly convinced that narcissists and 'borderline/histrionic' personalities are simply different end-points of the same psychological starting point;
ReplyDeleteThere are all sorts of different kinds of those types. I see the ones who, if they don't get attention and praise, they get frustrated and down, I see the ones who , if you don't bow down to them, they get frustrated and start to bad mouth you, or else you stop existing for them, I see the ones who, if you are having a good life they can't help themselves from giving a subtle put-down because they can't stand anyone more happy than they are. And i see the ones who want to be around you because you make them feel good about themselves. And so on. They crave to feel good about themselves and that end point is oozing out of their pores.
"This is also in my opinion the reason for the almost instinctive disgust sociopaths feel at meeting narcissists."
I do not like these sorts of people because you can't hang out with them. It's a ball draining experience. What they have to offer is clouded by the energy i need to use to massage their fucking ego. They're exhausting.
But I am one of them, see? I know that. Deep deep down I know that I think that i am not "enough." It's never enough supply to give me long lasting feelings. I exhaust my own self similarly to the way the ones i mentioned earlier exhaust me. But i don't look for it from other people. I try to get it from my self, as if there is another monster in me i have to please. I am somewhere on the spectrum low enough (and intelligent enough) to go unnoticeable to others (irl).
May I ask if you find other people like you (sociopathic) to be offensive?
"In practice, I increasingly suspect that the only difference between being recognised as a monster and being recognised as 'heroic' is choosing a side."
YES, absolutely! If you choose the side of the underdog more often then you are the hero. Like politicians want you to see.
Are you a group leader here?
You are probably right - I hate narcissists because I see them as incapable of the sort of basic self-actualisation I've achieved through introspection. Like, if they'd just crawl out of their own asses they could be so much fun!
DeleteI love other sociopaths. They become my best friends or lovers and I can spot them almost without fail. I also tend to have what I increasingly think of as 'the conversation' with socios who are not fully self-aware, which is a very interesting way to get another sociopath to respect you very quickly. I generally surround myself with sociopaths and 'real' empaths because they're the only people I genuinely enjoy socialising with.
I am extremely socially dominant around non sociopaths. I am extremely intellectual as an individual but also a sociopath - which means that those around me tend to see me as intellectually untouchable because of the way I frame my own actions. (I am aware that the prior paragraph makes me sound hugely egotistical, but hey, it's true in practice.) Around other S's I'm more likely to enter a genuinely reciprocal social role.
"those around me tend to see me as intellectually untouchable because of the way I frame my own actions."
ReplyDeleteI like this. This is where the guy says to me: I find you so interesting and i want to get to know you better.
But because i am midway here, they get the curve balls. I confuse and I confuse myself. One day logical, the next day throwing things, putting foot in mouth, oversharing, being vulnerable emotionally. Yet there is your description , clear in front of me, so clear and strong. But not consistent.
I take a shitload of bullshit bec i am easy going/tolerant/take responsibility for my shenanigans. I do so more than the avg person. I take shit in the most "who gives a fuck" way one day, and in the most "fuck you" way another day. In this i get respect along with "you are a petulant child" because of my topsy turvy nature.
I have earned status of the person who doesn't allow the other to make it through the labyrinth of my mind *rolls eyes* . So I do second guessing myself, take advice, use it and wish i had not taken it, tell myself things i dont agree with in order to idk, ...manipulate a person to stay mostly. But this is untrue to the self i am in search of. It gets me longevity with someone, but it also leaves me in pickles. I end up letting them decidee to leave me. I understand why. The only clarity i have is the notion that there is none. This is comforting, but...
I am not a victim for this. I am resilient. But ultimately alone while being involved and on the outside at the same time. Do you understand? I am wishy washy, vacillating.
I try to enjoy moment by moment bec that is all i can count on. Do you understand ?
I fully understand. Never let yourself forget, though, that the difference between a psychopath and a sociopath is the capacity for delayed gratification. Self control is what can make you a truly and utterly dominant social creature; practice it your whole life.
DeleteThat is very good advice ..for all people.
DeleteThank you very much.