Have you ever felt that all the articles on how to identify a sociopath or narcissist didn't apply fully to people you had known in real life ?
Or perhaps, did not adequately describe the dynamics of the suspected sociopath's irritating interactions with you ?
See if this description, written many years ago by a commenter named Stargazer [to give her credit by name], fits anyone you have ever come across.
When Stargazer refers to "us" and "we", she means the rest of the population who have no sociopathic traits. For, it's possible for people to exhibit some traits, as they are called in the field, but not necessarily be a sociopath.
This is not a rare situation, by the way, as some experts believe that 1 in 4 Americans today has a personality disorder in this range. However, this estimate include such types as borderline personality disorder, who are not generally known for pathological lying.
Still, if 25% of the population has a personality disorder in the same general category as sociopathy, that means one has a fairly high chance of meeting not just one but A FEW over the course of their lives.
This unpleasant contact can occur at work, school, among neighbors - and perish the thought ! -
EVEN at CHURCH !
Churches are traditionally a prime target for predators like these. Why ? There are many people concentrated in one place who may be individually or collectively vulnerable to faked pleas for help as a gambit to reel in new victims.
Sob stories are the staple of all predators - don't believe people's tales of woe automatically ! Check into the claims before advancing money, time, or energy.
Sociopaths can on a dime, turn on a fountain of tears at will. If one notices carefully, they turn off the flow of the tears just as fast. If one can distract them with an appealing enough subject, they drop their crying act and become literally almost another person in a flash.
That's one of the lesser-known characteristics.
Thus, it pays to study up on the subject in order to avoid the nets of their sinister traps.
Here was the comment :
"Sociopaths...lie because they lie because they lie. They lie because they can. They lie because it’s fun. They lie because they want something in the moment. They lie because to them a lie has same value as telling the truth. Truth has no inherent virtue to them. And they mistakenly assume that because they lie, everyone lies.
It is just a way of life to them.
In OUR world, we use words in an attempt to connect with others. It is called communication. It is how we reach out for connection, and ultimately, for love. When we are being authentic, our words are connected to our own feelings, our own truths.In a sociopath’s world, however, words are not connected to anything. They have no particular meaning.
It is just as easy for a sociopath to lie as it is to tell the truth. So they will often lie to manipulate or exploit you in the moment for their own entertainment. They are temporarily entertained by [tricking] you or getting something they want. It is a substitute for the real connection and love they cannot feel.
When their victims wonder why the sociopath can seem so happy going through life like this while they, the victims, are left writhing in pain for a long time, consider the different definitions of “joy” and happiness. The sociopath cannot experience true joy, though they’ve had their entire lives to learn how to fake it.
Instead, they feel a sort of temporary entertainment before returning to their core emptiness and boredom. Now consider a different kind of joy – a spiritual joy. This joy...comes from our hearts.
Sociopaths cannot feel this kind of joy...They cannot feel anything too deeply. That is why they play games.
They are looking for the temporary fix of winning, the conquest, anything to fill the void left in their empty souls. They can OBSERVE deep feelings in others, but they don’t understand those feelings, which is why they must feed off the feelings of others in order to survive in their hellish state.
It is entertaining to them but ultimately not fulfilling so they must continue playing games to stay entertained"