A forensic psychiatrist claims there are 'hacks' to figure out whether your friend or family member is a psychopath.
According to the National Institutes of Health, psychopathy is a neuropsychiatric disorder marked by ‘deficient emotional responses, lack of empathy, and poor behavioural controls’.
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Interestingly, the American Psychological Association claims that while severe psychopathy affects around just one percent of the population, research suggests that up to 30 percent of people have some level of psychopathic traits.
While true psychopaths are few and far between, Dr Sohom Das (TikTok - @psychforsoreminds/YouTube - A Psych For Sore Minds) claims to have personally assessed hundreds of mental health patients in prisons and secure psychiatric wards across the country.
The Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist and expert witness has worked with schizophrenia patients, people exhibiting personality disorders, and offences such as arson and murder.
Dr Das has given his followers an insight into how he believes you can classify a psychopath.
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In a TikTok video titled ‘Spotting A Psychopath: Is it EASY or DIFFICULT’ the practitioner claimed there are ways you can detect the mental disorder - though it is tricky.
The content creator began: “I’ve worked with many formal clinical psychopaths. I’ve done lots of kind of interviews and podcasts.
“And a question that I always get asked is, ‘How can you spot a psychopath?’”
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Dr Das claimed that it can be ‘really, really hard’ to identify them because they often manage to ‘chameleon’ themselves and blend in with the community.
He said: “They’re charming, they’re friendly, they’re entertaining - so I don’t really think you can spot a psychopath, at least the first few times you meet them.
“But over time you begin to realise that they’re kind of quite manipulative.”
The Londoner claimed that those with psychopathic tendencies often ‘use’ people and that you’ll find they’re probably not involved with you for your banter alone.
“They’re being your friend because they want to somehow get something from you. They’re trying to manipulate you.”
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He continued to say that you may witness this person trying to control others and that while they seem to have many friends, they don’t seem to last too long.
He said: “So they have lots of friends and contacts because they’re friendly and they’re charming. But they use people and then move on.”
Dr Das then stated that these people often don’t have any ‘long-term friendships’ because they find it difficult to ‘emotionally connect’ with anyone.
So while the qualified forensic psychiatrist claims it is difficult to classify a psychopath, it might be worth initially looking into their past relationships if you are worried.
Featured Image Credit: YouTube/@pshycheforsoremindsTopics: Mental Health, Real Life, Hacks