The most successful approaches to treating psychopathy are multimodal. This means they include multiple approaches at once, including psychotherapy, behavioral skills training, and recognition of the important roles of family, school, peers, and the community. They may also incorporate medication.
There is no single known cause of psychopathy. Genetics, trauma, brain structure, exposure to violence during childhood, and environmental conditions are possible contributing factors.
One of the psychopaths' most significant weaknesses is their lack of empathy. This makes it difficult for them to form deep emotional connections with others. They may not fully understand or care about the consequences of their actions on those around them, making them callous and detached.
Psychopaths believe and feel that “one can treat others (i.e., manipulating, hurting, torturing, killing, etc.) in ways that one would not like to be treated.” In fact, there is no evidence that psychopaths wish to be treated (even unconsciously) in the same ways they treat others.
You will think you can out-ignore them, remaining calm and collected like nothing is wrong. But they will always win this game. Because they do not need your attention—they have already found someone else. When the psychopath begins ignoring you for days, it means they've found a new target.
You can hurt a psychopath's feelings, but probably different feelings and for different reasons.
Karin Roelofs, at the Donders Institute at Radboud University in the Netherlands, confirmed that the brains of psychopaths showed poor connectivity between the amygdala — the brain region key for processing emotions, especially fear — and the more “judging,” wiser prefrontal cortex.
A psychopath's goal might be to become rich or famous. But quite often, they have little idea about how to make these things happen. Instead, they insist that somehow, they'll get what they want without putting in the effort to get there.
The lower on the scale a psychopath is, the more likely they are to develop some sort of love for people such as family members. Psychopaths are much less likely to develop deep bonds with others, however. Interestingly, psychopaths may still want to be loved even if they are almost incapable of truly loving another.
TO THE BEST of our knowledge, there is no cure for psychopathy. No pill can instill empathy, no vaccine can prevent murder in cold blood, and no amount of talk therapy can change an uncaring mind. For all intents and purposes, psychopaths are lost to the normal social world.
One thing psychopaths tend to have in common is the careers they go for. For example, you're likely to find a lot of them in leadership positions because of their ruthlessness, charisma, and fearlessness. They're very good at making snap decisions, but not so good at the empathetic professions like nursing or therapy.
Psychopaths have a bad temper
“They can turn mean, but only if challenged or someone gets in the way of their goal,” says Salekin.
Researchers out of the Netherlands did an extensive review of theoretical and empirical brain and behavioral data pertaining to fear and psychopathy and found that while psychopathic individuals do feel fear, they have trouble detecting and responding to threat.
Although sociopathy and psychopathy cannot be diagnosed until someone is 18, one of the hallmarks of both conditions is that they usually begin in childhood or early adolescence. Usually, the symptoms appear before the age of 15, and sometimes they are present early in childhood.
Most people mellow out with age, but in the case of psychopaths and those suffering from similar antisocial personality disorders such as sociopaths, bad behavior tends to get worse, according to new research from New Zealand's University of Otago.
Ramani Durvasula, a licensed clinical psychologist and professor of psychology, says to take a peek at their relationships. “Psychopaths don't have any really close friends or family members that they have good relationships with,” she says, “but they have lots of acquaintances and 'connections. '”
Psychopaths cannot love another person fully but there's an exception: their children! Because many psychopaths lack empathy, they can't love other people. Their children are seen as being just like them. That makes it possible for their parents to have strong emotions about their children.
Unlike sadists, psychopaths don't harm the harmless simply because they get pleasure from it (though they may). Psychopaths want things. If harming others helps them get what they want, so be it. They can act this way because they are less likely to feel pity or remorse or fear.
Emotional pain and violence
Social isolation, loneliness, and associated emotional pain in psychopaths may precede violent criminal acts. They believe that the whole world is against them and eventually become convinced that they deserve special privileges or the right to satisfy their desires.
One brain imaging study found that people who scored high on the psychopathy scale had a massive dopamine response to amphetamines–almost four times that of other participants. It's no wonder that substance use is so high among people with psychopathic traits.
Psychopaths can be highly manipulative, often coming across as typical or even charming. According to Psychology Today, callousness, detachment and a lack of empathy are key traits of a psychopath, but underneath the facade, they lack any semblance of a conscience.
Not all psychopaths will become criminals, and many will get through life without anyone knowing what they are. But whether they end up causing trouble or not, there's no evidence their personality will ever change.