Psychological Matters

At least one time in our lives each of us will make the mistake of trusting someone who doesn’t deserve it.  Especially when we consider the statistics that one out of every twenty-five people in the world are individuals with APD (sociopaths). In the best-case scenario, this betrayal only inconvenienced us, but more often we will have been conned, cheated, or abused. How do we recognize and avoid relationships with sociopaths? To protect ourselves, it is important to understand sociopaths’ motivation for developing relationships. Their reasons are not the same as ours! Lacking a conscience, they are unable to form emotional attachments and are disinterested in developing a bond with others.  Instead, they are thrill seekers, and use relationships to achieve this goal. In pursuit of their next big emotional charge, sociopaths tend to cast others into three main roles: “pawns, patrons, or police.” “Pawns” are individuals with little or no social or political ...

Since the development of narcissism is due to childhood stresses, and no one has a perfect childhood, all of us have varying degrees of this dysfunction. Although a brief list of narcissistic traits and characteristics was provided in the last article, it still might be hard to determine if we display these characteristics on a day-to-day basis. I think Dr. Paul Meier’s  wonderful questionnaire in his book, You Might Be a Narcissist If ,  might be able to help us identify the daily presentation of narcissism.  The questionnaire does not having a scoring system, however we can evaluate how frequently we unconsciously and/or accidently behave in the manner described in each question. Narcissism Questionnaire 1.  Do I have a humble heart? Do I realize I’m not perfect and have both strengths as well as weaknesses---and don’t feel overly threatened to acknowledge either of them? 2.  Do I have empathy for others? Can I put myself in their shoes and ima...