I don't think it's that many, I would guess this 1-2% is about right. I guess if there would be more the society would have already collapsed.

I disagree, croc. I think there are more than the 1 in 25 even from Martha Stout. They are right in front of us, hiding in plain sight. The very smart ones probably stay hidden and are never reported for what they are.

Regarding relationships, we are in agreement. I, too, wonder if only one of them would accept me. After all, I've been left by every woman I've ever loved and the only one who wanted to stick around was an actual psychopath with an agenda that had nothing to do with love. My longest relationship prior to that was a year long. I am also pretty sure my first college girlfriend had narcissistic PD and my only two high school girlfriends both have all the hallmarks of being Psychopaths as well.

Croc, look around society is collapsing around us, people are getting robbed by the very institutions we used to trust, the people at the top have to have Psychopath's in their blood to do such horrific things. I could really go on and on, corporate Psychopath's are everywhere. They are running things everywhere you look. If the rest aren't Psychopath's they are very high level N's.



That is so true, I am not as concerned with non-socialized ones because they will eventually get caught and tossed in prison, but the socialized ones will wreck thousands upon thousands of lives in their lifetime and never have a day of punishment for their evil.

I know for a fact those statistics are very, very old and modeled after the prison population many years ago. The numbers were extrapolated from there. I asked a top Psychopath evaluator and have no reason to believe he didn't know what he was talking about. Also, I don't think it is just me but anyone who has crossed these Internet doors over the last many years have made the same comments. All you have to do is become aware of what you are looking for and, you will see them.

Darth I know you and I suspect Croc are quite young, too young to think that love will never come your way. Learn to set boundaries now and dream and it will come your way when the time is right. I don't want to say lucky but if you think about it this has been a very sharp curve in the ballpark of life, if you learn from this experience things can be great for you in the future.

I think the end goal would be to not let it damage you forever. Speaking out now is a huge first step, many don't ever speak of this kind of experience and can then become cranky old people who never let love shine your way. Blast away with your thoughts and concerns, we will be here to listen

I let a Corporate Psychopath knock me off my life path for years and robbed me of some of the best years of my life, but I refuse to let things just fall to the road side. What I have learned is to also stand out of the way and let things happen. Youth is on your side, and you will find love. I think the best observations after all these years are a couple of simple things people have said.....

-They got busy painting the red flags white in the beginning and didn't listen to their instincts and when their instincts were saying one thing they brushed it aside and continued painting those flags.

-They didn't use proper boundaries (that comes with being busy painting those flags; )

Learn to accept silence and listen to your inner voice. When you go out for a drive, turn off the radio, your phone etc. and just be in silence, you will find the path.

You have made a huge first step by acknowledging things haven't gone so well, but really compared to what? We can't compare to others and each has our own path, but think of how brave and healthy it is to speak about these issues.

Di

Hi Di,
You are correct about the much higher number and the statistics being derived from older studies based on prison populations. I know of four psychopaths all highly socialized. (dangerous and destructive) I was in a relationship with a corporate Psychopath. Ironically it was this relationship that led me on the road to "eyes wide open" and the ability to recognize the other psychopaths in my life. (mother, cousin, ex sister in law.)I think of the experience as a sort of rosetta stone that I can use for the rest of my life. It came at a terrible price but I see how it can be a gift in moving forward to happier, meaningful, living.

The ex Psychopath publicly gives away tons of money as a way of maintaining his reputation. He must be Mr. Wonderful, right, all that philanthropy? It throws people off the scent. They hide in plain sight and because most people have no practical understanding of "WHAT" they are their misdeeds get reasoned away. It seems that society has been trained to tolerate or normalize the terrible behavior of corporate and political psychopaths. When I have mentioned psychopathy and NPD in conversations with people they look at me as if I am a crazy conspiracy theorist. I really don't even bother any more.

After really combing through my own personal rubble I realized that a strong self esteem coupled with clear boundaries are a person's best defense against being victimized in a relationship. (whether or not one is with a Psychopath.)I bought a great book on the subject and have been helped immensely. I wish I had been aware of this much earlier in my life. Having a Psychopath for a mother really did ensure that I had major boundary deficits. I highly recommend to all that before reentering the relationship arena prepare by looking at information on boundaries.

Best to you and everyone else on the forum

Hi Trudy, good to see you and thanks for your comments.

If you even watch TV at least here in the states it is hard to not see shows about Psychopath's. They may not call them Psychopath's but really you can only come away with one conclusion. I have the show American Greed on my DVR, and they model exactly what you are talking about as far as giving away money. I noticed that they all are ponzi schemes of one sort or another, and they all give away huge amounts of money to be the big shots. It is sad for the charities etc. because now they are doing what they call "clawing back" when they get caught the authorities go after the charities to repay the investors.



So true, I don't recommend to any victim here to even bring up the word Psychopath. It is sad because we have what I call the Ted Bundy effect, people only think of some raging killer. I have had this forum for so many years, and I don't even tell people I meet socially about it. I tried and learned quickly I got the strangest looks like I was some lunatic.

When I had my encounter with a female corporate Psychopath and lost everything I got blamed by people I had known for years. It was a clear fact in their minds that I must have done something wrong and when I brought up my thoughts that she was a Psychopath they really distrusted me of all people. I can still remember the day she gave me that first look of evil, really frosted me to the ground.

I never imagined this forum would be clicking along after all these years and frankly don't see any end in site.

I am glad we are on the subject of female Psychopath's because that was my first deadly encounter and I really believe there are as many women as men, but they just don't get the talking space.

My mother was also in the Personality Disorder group, she was a Borderline so life was full of chaos and mixed messages. Clearly not to the extreme of having a mother who was a Psychopath but chock full of issues.

I believe sincerely also that boundaries are the biggest issues that people who fall prey to Psychopath's have to address. Also,people who fall prey tend to be the nicest most caring people on earth. It is important to not give up on being nice and caring but have the boundaries to go with it.

Thanks again, Trudy, glad to see you are doing well and flourishing. I think life can knock us down, but the true test is our ability to dust ourselves off with some good talking about things and put our feet back on the ground.

Di

Thanks for the advice, Di. Those are wise words and I will try to implement them. As for female psychopaths and not being violent, some don't have to be. All they've got to do is blow a couple of thugs, or a desperately lonely man not used to that kind of attention, ask for a favor, and then sit back and watch the show while a man handles the violence for them. How often does that happen and the woman behind it is never charged or even accused? If they can get a man to kill, they can get him to protect her and take the fall. That's another thing I bet happens all the time. Saw a video on msn a couple of weeks ago where a woman was calmly ordering her husband's death with a police officer posing as a hit man, because it would be "easier than getting a divorce." She gave the guy her husband's schedule, a map of the house, handed over her husband's savings (she'd drained his account) and promised to pay the rest of the hit man's fee once she got her hands on his lovely life insurance money.

It's pretty twisted: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix-hNxr9yp4

I wouldn't exactly say about anyone, that he or she is a psychopath unless they have a clear cut diagnoses (OR) if they do meet the entire criteria as listed in DSM-IV/DSM V.

The percentage 3% is a bit too high, I don't agree with it. (I certainly believe it's not a correct study, since they counting the heads from prisons, but I dont believe that 3% of the world's population is psychopathic.

If 2% are schizophrenics, 3% psychopathic, 1% is bipolar, 1% borderline, 7-8% suffer from anxiety disorder, and 10 - 15% of the population is depressed then we're looking at 30 - 40% of the population is mentally ill?

This is why a proper diagnoses is important, without it, it never happened.

Xe

Xe, you keep referring to the need for a proper diagnosis. In a perfect world that would be great and I am glad that you have that luxury.

Lets agree to disagree on this issue, and the majority of people here will never have that option. Just won't happen, in order for a Psychopath to end up in the chair of a shrink it is many times court ordered and even then it would rely on the evaluator to be many steps ahead of them to even reach a diagnosis. Many times members have had a therapist of their own point out that they were dealing with a Psychopath. Anyways this conversation is making me tired, please lets just let it go. I think we all understand that we don't just randomly label people.

If you want to continue this conversation I would suggest a different area than specific threads that are about another topic.

Di

Hi Darth, here is an old thread about a member who married a Female Psychopath. My Lovely Wife - Psychopath

Hi Darth, excellent points and thanks for sharing that video. Yes, it does become more complex when you point out these issues. I think that would really impact how Female Psychopath's would fly under the radar.

I think this point also goes to the way women are raised vs. men, we are raised to play nice and not hit etc, while boys are raised for more direct contact. This gives us a lot to think about to ponder about females vs. males.

Di