Psychopathy – diagnosed clinically as antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) – is a type of personality disorder which is characterised as ‘irresponsible and often criminal behaviour’.
Symptoms of ASPD can vary from individual to individual and in severity but often includes: behaving in a way which is considered unpleasant for others, feeling easily bored or impulsive, being unable to experience empathy or remorse and having issues with following the law.
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Psychopaths tend to be represented by stereotypes in films (Lionsgate)
According to statistics from Mind, it’s believed that around 3 in 100 people will be given an ASPD diagnosis in their lifetime, however the study notes that true figures could be even higher.
There are also a lot of misconceptions around mental health terms such as ‘psychopath’ and ‘antisocial personality disorder’ which has led people diagnosed with the condition to share their experiences online.
One person who does this is Vic – who goes by the name of @victhepath on social media – with a recent TikTok of hers revealing the ‘morbid’ special interests she had as a child.
Kicking her list off with a ‘bang’ Vic explained that she had been particularly interested in learning about the Holocaust as a kid, recalling how she’d spent hours reading a book on the subject in the third grade (which is Year 4 in the UK).
Vic shared her childhood fascinations in a recent video (Tiktok/@victhepath)
“When I was in the third grade we had a book fair at school and I remember seeing this little black book called ‘The Holocaust and being really intrigued by it,” Vic said, adding that she chose to visit the Holocaust Museum over the Smithsonian on a school trip to Washington DC.
Maintaining the theme of historical fascination Vic went on to reveal she was also interested in the life and death of Tsar Nicholas II and his family, adding that she had written a paper on Grand Duchess Anastasia.
Vic also revealed that she was fascinated by fairytales as a kid – but not the PG, happy ever after ones which most kids love.
“I was really into Grimm fairytales,” she said.
For anyone whose unaware of the ‘original’ Grimm fairytales are, they were a collection of stories written by the Brothers Grimm in the early 19th century and is the original source material for Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Little Red Riding Hood.
However these stories would have much darker endings and involve themes such as murder, sexual assault and cannibalism.
Going further back to ancient history, Vic added that she was intrigued by Greek myths as well as as the Aztec and Inca empires.
“It shouldn’t be a shock to you guys that I was really intrigued by the whole human sacrifice thing,” she said of the Aztecs and the Inca.
If you grew up in the nineties, you’re sure to remember late nights spent whispering on the house phone, hoping your mum doesn’t listen in on the call. But with the arrival of shiny smartphones, we’ve slowly disconnected from the landline and swapped hour-long natters for communication by way of memes.
So, you can imagine how chuffed we were to learn that a tech company has launched a nostalgic product for your smartphone — and it’s perfect for small businesses and nineties kids alike.
Air Landline
With thousands of five-star reviews on Trustpilot, the unique service has been called ‘absolutely brilliant’ by customers who are thrilled with the ‘game-changing’ invention.
One happy customer wrote, “Does what it says on the tin” whilst another raved about the cost, commenting: “Cheap as chips”. A third agreed, simply writing: “Impressed with these guys.”
TikTok/@miss2005
The service, which is designed for small businesses, comes off the back of a recent resurgence of the landline phone on TikTok. Gen Z are of course the culprits behind the trend, proudly showcasing their ‘retro’ phones on the social media platform.
So, where can you get your hands on the landline number service everyone is talking about?
@woonteague
How does the landline service work?
- All you need to do is choose your local area code to create a new telephone number. If you’d prefer, you can sign up to a national 0330 number for the same price.
- Then, provide the company with the mobile number you’d like your new landline number to link up to. Your new number will arrive in your email inbox in minutes.
- Then, jump into your account, set up a welcome message (AI can even do this for you if you’re shy), choose hold music, and turn on call recording if this is a feature you’re interested in.
- If you don’t feel like talking, you can message mates using your new landline WhatsApp account at any time.
TikTok/@brooktheshopaholic
How much does it cost?
You can sign up to the service for free with a seven-day trial. This will give you access to everything from custom welcome messages and hold music to a personalised voicemail.
If you like your new landline number, it’s only £9.99 a month moving forward.
The best part? You don’t need a contract and can cancel at any time.
We hate to admit it, but this is a Gen Z trend we don’t mind getting on board with.
Visit the website to find out more.
But it’s not really a true depiction of what living with psychopathy is like.
In fact, it can be very hard to spot the difference between someone who is a sociopath, psychopath or generally antisocial.
However, M.E Thomas, an author and diagnosed psychopath realised that her pattern of reinventing herself was down to something much more than broken relationships.
According to WebMD, psychopathy is rarely a standalone diagnosis, and individuals who display psychopathic characteristics are generally diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), which encapsulates key signs.
YouTube/@psychopathyIs
The DSM-5 criteria for ASPD shows that a person might have a pattern of ‘disregard for and violation of the rights of others, since age 15 years’, and three or more of the following:
· Failure to conform to social norms concerning lawful behaviours
· Deceitfulness, repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for pleasure or personal profit
· Impulsivity or failure to plan
· Irritability and aggressiveness, often with physical fights or assaults
· Reckless disregard for the safety of self or others
· Consistent irresponsibility, failure to sustain consistent work behaviour, or honour monetary obligations
· Lack of remorse, being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another person
For Thomas, it was her inability not to manipulate those around her.
Speaking with PsychopathyIs, she said: “I realised that I did not have an alternative to manipulating. The only way I understood how to interact with people was through manipulation.”
If we look back up to the DSM-5 criteria, Thomas will tick off the ‘deceitfulness’ box and the ‘use of aliases’ as she would repeatedly reinvent herself once her relationships would break down due to her manipulation tactics.
YouTube/@psychoathyIs
Comparing herself to a ‘gas’ or liquid, Thomas explained how she felt no sense of self, and had a lack of self-expression before going through with treatment after recognising her red flag.
She believed that without people around her, she was ‘nothing’ and was a ‘cypher’.
Now, with help, she is able to feel a range of emotions she hadn’t felt before, such as satisfaction and self-awareness instead of negativity and frustration.
People in the comments under the video were incredibly interested in this red flag, and her explanation of how it feels to be a psychopath.
One person wrote: “I found it quite fascinating when she said the main factor that caused her to get help was because as her relationships in her life began to dissolve, which limited her ‘career’ options.
“Such an unusual take on how her gain was being threatened and thus led her to seek help and alternate ways to approach her manipulation, rather than the loss of friends around her.”
Another wrote: “’If there’s nobody around me, then I’m nothing’. This is such an interesting dilemma for people with NPD and ASPD.
“Because at the same time people mean nothing to you, they mean the world to you, because they’re those who validate your ego and your accomplishments. A life without people for those with ASPD or NPD is a dull life.”
Narcissists are often depicted in popular culture as cold and calculating people who are fully aware of how their behaviours are hurting others. However, this is not always the case.
One person who regularly shares their experiences of having narcissistic personality disorder is Jacob Skidmore – who goes by the name @thenamelessnarcissist on social media. His videos provide a deeper understanding of what it can be like to navigate the world with the condition.
Jacob Skidmore dedicates his account to explaining narcissistic personality disorder (TikTok/thenamelessnarcissist)
In a recent TikTok video, Skidmore revealed how a recent conversation with a friend he used to date led him to realise one of the ‘scariest’ things about narcissists when it comes to how they view the world and their interpersonal relationships.
Skidmore explained that he had asked his friend to recall the ‘worst’ part of dating him, to which she revealed how her entire life had revolved around him during the relationship, ‘while it seemed like I did not care at all about her’.
The comment allowed Skidmore to explain what he believed to be one of the scariest thing about narcissists – which is that a lot of their hurtful behaviours are subconscious rather than intentional.
“[When] I heard this, my thought wasn’t ‘oh yeah, I did that to control her’, because I didn’t. My first thought was ‘really?'” adding that he has never tried to be controlling towards someone.
He continued: “I’ve never in my life thought ‘I’m going to do this thing to make them more emotionally reliant on me so I can control them.’
“Almost everything that she described that I did that made her emotionally dependant on me was me creating emotional distance just because of my own emotional pathologies and insecurities.”
The recent video saw him explain one of the ‘scariest’ things about the condition (TikTok/thenamelessnarcissist)
Skidmore then went on to explain that, in his mind, he believed that allowing himself to be vulnerable around a partner would then manipulate his feelings against him – leading him to use ’emotional distance’ as a defence mechanism.
“It never even occurred to me that I was a fundamental part of her life,” he added.
Skidmore’s explanation that his behaviour was subconscious rather than intentional isn’t unusual either, with an article in Choosing Therapy outlining how narcissism and narcissistic personality disorder is a spectrum, and many can often be ‘unaware’ of how their behaviours are impacting others.
This isn’t the first time Skidmore has revealed he was unaware of how his behaviour was being perceived either, with a recent video explaining several manipulation tactics he believed were normal behaviours.
There are some things which might point you towards the possibility that you’re living near one, or that there could be a psychopath in the room with you right now.
However, could you spot if you were talking to a psychopath in the moment?
It would be difficult to do mid-conversation but fortunately psychotherapist Amy Morin has laid out the nine signs you need to be on the lookout for in conversation.
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Speaking in past tense
The expert said that you’d only be talking to a psychopath in about one out of 100 conversations unless you were in prison, but if someone is always speaking in past tense when they needn’t it could be a sign.
Experts believe this happens because they’re ‘detached from their behaviour and their environment’.
It’s a subtle difference, but a study into psychopathic behaviour notes that a lot of the signs are, so you’ve got to be on the lookout for the other stuff.
Noticeable body language
This is a feature several other studies have highlighted in psychopaths, so if you’re talking to someone and they’re using a lot of hand gestures be careful.
Apparently this one is used to cover up lies by distracting you with their gestures, so you’re watching the hands when you ought to be watching the mouth.
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Lack of emotion
This is a common sign of a psychopath, but actually spotting it could be more difficult than you think.
Morin explained that the lack of emotion will come in their choice of language, noting that for them saying ‘I love you’ is a statement they put as much emotion into as asking someone to pass the milk.
If what they’re saying doesn’t ring true emotionally and the rest of their body isn’t saying it then you might start to notice.
Turning on the charm
On the other hand, if a psychopath is using emotional language it’s usually to get ‘attention and admiration’.
If they say something which sounds like it ought to be emotional and you think it was designed to manipulate you then it could set alarm bells ringing.
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Slow and steady
Morin said that psychopaths tend to speak in a ‘slow, controlled manner’ and don’t place the same emphasis upon certain words as other people might do.
A neutral tone and unsettlingly calm manner during times when it’d be entirely appropriate to be emotional may have you concerned.
Cause and effect
Another clue which Morin said you ought to pick up on is when a psychopath is asked to justify their actions.
She explained that they’ll talk about things they did in a very ’cause and effect’ way, so they won’t be sorry for things they did and will instead say they did what they had to do as though it were a natural consequence.
The expert said this was more likely to show up in conversations with criminals where they were trying to justify what they’d done.
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It’s always what they need
Someone always talking about what they need with no consideration for anyone else’s needs is another sign to look out for if you’re trying to tell whether you’re talking to a psychopath.
When they’re talking they’ll keep the conversation to themselves, how it benefits them and you’ll hear nary a peep about how what they did affected others.
Umm-ing and ahh-ing
Lots of people use ‘umm’ and ‘ahh’ noises during conversations as verbal pauses while their brain conjures up what to say next.
However, Morin said psychopaths used them as an attempt to mimic the behaviour of others.
If someone is ‘umm-ing’ and ‘ahh-ing’ during a conversation and it sounds not quite right then pay attention for the other signs.
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Storytime
The last thing to look for is them telling richly detailed stories about themselves which paint them in a positive light.
While many people love telling stories about the time they won where they’re always right and everyone else around them is an idiot, you might realise they’re using these stories to gain your trust and manipulate you.
Of course these signs in isolation might just mean nothing, but if someone you’re talking to is ticking several of these boxes and giving you the ick then it’s perhaps your brain trying to tell you something.
