Recently a friend of mine split from her husband because of emotional, verbal and financial abuse. He was in shock that his wife would leave him and sought out treatment for depression but discovered much more about himself. His psychiatrist diagnosed him to be a sociopath. Upon doing more research into this personality disorder, I saw where this disorder can lead to abusive behavior in a person.

First of all, when you think of a sociopath, the first people that come to mind may be Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, or even Jeffery Dahmer. Not all sociopaths go to the extremes that these men did and not all sociopaths are male either. Sociopaths are manipulative, con artists, are pathological liars, lack empathy and show no remorse when they hurt someone. It has also been said that a sociopath is the most dangerous personality disorder.

Sociopath behavior begins around the age of 15. Some early signs are skirting by, especially in school, by using or conning others. Sociopaths are very impulsive. This is another personality disorder where people who know them say they have a Jekyll and Hyde personality. The person will go into a fit of rage or an episode of abuse, then will be loving or so some sort of affection not really feeling the emotion they are displaying, just “going through the motions” to pacify the victim.

They are usually irresponsible and are a job hopper. Often times they will blame someone else for their inability it keep steady work. Sociopaths aren’t good at having long term relationships because of all the lies and other behaviors they exhibit. Due to their impulse control issues many have the sense of the need to live on the edge or constantly be into something. This leads to gambling, promiscuous sexual behaviors, rape, will move around a lot, yet when this leads to them getting in trouble, they lie, make excuses, and blame others for them acting or even denying that they did it when it is obvious they are guilty.

This personality disorder is close to narcissism and often leads to or coincides with antisocial personality disorder. From what research I have done, there really is no way to live with or tolerate a sociopath. Many with this disorder do not believe anything is wrong with them and will not seek treatment just because their partners say there is something wrong with them. Often times it takes them getting in serious trouble with the law before something is done. The question is are you willing to live through the abuse that long?