3 Scary Truths about Psychopaths

"Psychopaths make up 1 to 2 percent of the American population. That’s around 6,278,000 psychopaths who live among us and use intimidation and manipulation to lord over others."
-  A Neurobiologist on Understanding Psychopaths by BIG THINK EDITORS

One thing you might not realize is that most killers are not psychopathic, according to James Fallon, a neurobiologist at UC Irvine. In fact, he argues most of them like their lives too much to want to destroy it. Instead, they would rather bring you into their world through coy seduction. These are people all around you. In fact, there's about 1 psychopath for every work environment with around 35 people or more. 

Continuing reading to see how the psychopath slips into our everyday lives - or to see if there might be one close to you. 

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3. Someone might already be manipulating you.

"Psychopaths are known for really being world-champ liars."
 - James Fallon, neurobiologist UC Irvine

"People, for some reason, don't seem to mind psychopathic behavior when it's done on their behalf," says Fallon.

This is the beauty of what psychopaths are capable of: complete stealthiness. While many of us might be able to call out a psychopath from a neutral position, we're largely blind to the psychopath with the comforting hand on our shoulders. When someone is helping us out, we're not exactly questioning their motives. It doesn't even appear to be an act of self-interest. 

And that's what makes this so curious. My favorite part of writing Ashland's Asylum is constructing the characters that would be considered psychopaths by definition. They're not outlandish and easy to spot. Sometimes, they don't even come of as evil. But they're out there. 

2. If you work with more than 35 people, 1 of them is a psychopath.

Scary, ain't it?

Luckily most of these people aren't evil. At the heart of psychopathic behavior is pathological lying, but it's not always the catalyst of someone's demise. In fact, these people would rather climb the hierarchy to bring everyone into their lives. 

Of course, everything that might seem to be done in your favor could really be an expense to you. Hopefully you won't spend the day at work trying to point out the psychopath.

1. Some psychopaths determine how you live life.

I found this gem that explains something I never really thought of, but American Psycho kind of told me.

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