Sociopathy, Politics and Fear

Sociopathy isn’t a word we hear often. Psychopathy is what we attribute to a villain in a scary movie or to a serial killer. However, both terms are antiquated, having been replaced with more modern descriptions. Sociopathy is now borderline personality disorder (BPD) and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) is more of what we used to call psychopathy. Regardless of labels, when someone has no remorse for having done wrong, has no empathy, is manipulative and refuses to take personal responsibility, we sense something is wrong. We see it in bad guys in the movies. We see it up close and personal sometimes, too. Roughly ten percent of Americans have symptoms somewhere on the spectrum of personality disorders (US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health). At least one mental health professional has gone on the record by saying “politicians are more likely than people in the general population” to be sociopathic. (Martha Stout, Ph.D) We’ve seen leaders with presumed ASPD openly engage in manipulative behavior in modern history, creating fear in their followers in order to “save” them from common foes (poverty, the establishment, even divisionism by identity politics). Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of ISIL, Saddam Hussein of Iraq and Kim Jong-il of North Korea are some of such leaders who appear to fit the ASPD profile, according to mental health professionals. The qualities of glib and superficial charm, grandiose self-worth, need for stimulation, being prone to boredom, pathological lying, conning and manipulating, lack of remorse or guilt, shallowness of expressions, callousness, lack of empathy, parasitic lifestyle, poor behavioral controls and promiscuous and/or predatory sexual behavior are part of the profile common in these infamous leaders, and others. The engendering of fear we’ve seen of late is fear of ourselves, more than anything. The idea is that a frightened people “will allow their government to take drastic measures to protect them without protest” (David M. Crane). Without revolt, a governed people will welcome the strong arm of government (as guided by their leader), to protect them from danger, even relinquishing freedoms for safety. Seth Davin Norrholm, Ph.D. has written about the “Power, Fear and Anxiety of dictators,” saying: “We simply do not fully understand the contributions of cultural, environmental, or political influences that facilitate the rise of a dictator…(yet, hopefully), we may one day be able to proactively identify and attenuate dictatorial leadership prior to the emergence of their often horrific actions.” Whether a friendship, a marriage, or between government and the governed; it’s not possible to be in a healthy relationship manipulated by fear and based on fear. Learn to recognize the ASPD red flags and steer clear of unhealthy, fear-driven relationships. Let’s not live in fear. Be well.