What is a psychopath?
A psychopath refers to someone who does not follow the moral norms of their society and lacks empathy and remorse.
They are callous, manifest antisocial behaviors, do not see other people as human beings, manipulate them, betray them, use them, and have total disregard for the law.
While the term psychopath is neither a part of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) nor a diagnostic category, it denotes a characteristic way of perceiving or interacting with the world, marked by several hallmark features.
Can a psychopath love someone?
Psychopaths are known for their lack of emotion and empathy, but can psychopaths love?
The answer to this question may lie in how severe the psychopathy is in the individual.
Psychopaths cannot love another person fully, but there’s an exception: their children! Because many psychopaths lack empathy, they can’t love other people.
Their children are seen as being just like them. That makes it possible for their parents to have strong emotions about their children. However, these feelings don’t extend beyond the family members that psychopaths see as part of themselves.
Why can’t a Psychopath love someone?
Several studies have indicated that people with psychopathic personalities tend to fear intimacy and struggle to form close emotional bonds with others. In love, this often manifests as a particular type of disjointed connection called avoidant attachment.
For instance, a 2015 study involving 183 French-Canadian couples indicated that the so-called primary psychopathic traits of low empathy and manipulativeness are linked to higher levels of attachment avoidance.
Ironically, despite this inability to form meaningful bonds, psychopaths may find it relatively easy to attract partners.
At the same time, their talent for manipulation makes them particularly adept at reading other people’s desires and figuring out what to say to reel them in.
However, a separate study indicated that while many people find psychopathic traits like a lack of guilt and high self-worth to be attractive, most would only ever consider a short-term fling with such an individual.
When it comes to serious relationships, these attributes are typically seen as undesirable by everyone, apart from other psychopaths.
Conditions For A Psychopath To Love Someone
- They must be able to see the other person as part of themselves; if not, there’s no chance for true feelings to form!
- They must be able to see someone as just like them; if not, they cannot love them.
- They often use their charm and good looks to get what they want from other people!
- Feelings of love are limited to close family members only—children, spouses, etc.
Characteristics of Psychopath love
Psychopaths are often very charming, and they’re good at pretending to love others. They know just how to act to get what they want.
They can be manipulative, controlling, or even violent to get what they want from other people. Many times, they do what it takes to get their way and then walk away feeling like nothing happened.
People who are dating a psychopath need to watch out for this behavior because the person might change after marriage or when children come into the picture.
Can a psychopath fall in love?
Emotional incapacity is well documented in psychopaths, but some psychopaths may show some normal and even some hypersensitivity to some emotions.
Although it might be difficult to show these emotions, they can feel something resembling affection or even strong romantic passion.
A psychopath can fall in love, but they aren’t capable of the kind of feelings that lead people into lasting relationships and marriages.
Causes of Psychopathy
There is no single known cause of psychopathy. Researchers have identified several possible contributing factors, including:
Genetics: Psychopathy is primarily attributed to genetics. Dr. Galynker describes it as one of the most inherited human characteristics. “Let’s say 60% to 70% of psychopathy is genetic,” he says.
“And that is very well established from the adoption studies: that identical twins who were separated at birth and raised in different families carried those characteristics with different families and potentially became very similar.”
Psychopathy frequently runs in families. Twin and family studies suggest that genetic variations often play a role in the inheritability of psychopathic traits.
Childhood trauma: Early childhood trauma—such as physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, as well as exposure to domestic violence in the home—significantly increases the risk of psychopathy, especially if someone is already genetically predisposed to it.
Some researchers refer to psychopathic traits that appear only after severe trauma as “secondary psychopathy.”
Brain structure: Studies indicate that people with psychopathy have impaired function in several areas of the brain, such as the prefrontal cortex (which is involved in complex thinking, decision-making, and planning) and the amygdala (which is involved in processing emotions, especially fear).
Categories of Psychopathy
Psychopaths can be further divided into two categories based on their impulsivity, says Dr. Galynker.
“You can roughly divide psychopaths into impulsive and deliberate.
Deliberate psychopaths have control over their behavior, and they quite often can be very successful…
Impulsive psychopaths are less successful and do things that could endanger them on the road to success.”
Traits Of A Psychopath
The most commonly used assessment for determining an individual’s psychopathic tendencies is the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R).
This checklist includes the following 20 items, which fall into two broad categories of psychopathic traits: emotional detachment and antisocial behavior. Items include:
- Pathological lying
- Conning/manipulation
- Lack of remorse or guilt
- Irresponsibility
- Failure to accept responsibility
- Many marital relationships
- Juvenile delinquency
- Revocation of conditional release (meaning release from containment was granted by a court and then revoked)
- Criminal versatility
- Shallow affect
- Callousness or lack of empathy
- Parasitic lifestyle
- Poor behavioral controls
- Promiscuous sexual behavior
- Early behavioral problems
- Lack of realistic, long-term goals
- Impulsivity
- Glibness/superficial charm
- Grandiose sense of self-worth
- Need for stimulation
Individuals are rated on each item within the checklist on a scale of zero to two based on how much of their personality and behavior align with the item.
A rating of zero means the trait does not apply to the individual, while one indicates it somewhat applies, and two means it fully applies to the individual being evaluated.
To be considered a psychopath, someone must score 30 or higher on the PCL-R assessment.
Forensic psychologists often use the PCL-R in criminal settings to determine a sexually violent offender’s risk of recidivism (the likelihood that they will re-offend and pose an ongoing danger to others).
Risk Factors Of A Psychopath
Anyone from any background can show traits of psychopathy. However, the following risk factors increase the likelihood that someone will develop psychopathic traits:
Individual differences: Certain childhood personality traits, such as emotional instability and behavioral impulsivity, have been linked to a higher likelihood of psychopathy. People with psychopathy are also less likely to be afraid of consequences, such as punishment or social isolation.
Environmental factors: There are many childhood risk factors for psychopathy, including poverty, housing instability, parental conflict, divorce, negative peer influences, a lack of parental involvement, exposure to crime or violence, and legal or criminal problems in the family.
Parent-child relationship: Studies indicate that parenting style plays an important role in psychopathy. Negative, harsh, and neglectful parenting have all been linked to antisocial behavior in children and adolescents.
Treatment
Psychopathy is considered challenging to treat. Whether or not psychopathy is treatable remains open to debate. Dr. Galynker, for one, does not believe it is, and historically, this has been the stance of many professionals and studies.
However, others contend that, while there may be no cure, psychopathy could be responsive to treatment or management.
Not many evidence-based treatments are currently available.
In a review of studies conducted in 2016, the authors note that there’s reason to believe treatment can help reduce violence when the psychopathic patient’s specific behaviors and predispositions are considered.
Most treatment approaches for psychopathy are focused on reducing the potential for violence, criminal behavior, and other harm.
Recent research suggests that the following psychopathy treatment methods may be helpful:
Early intervention: Because many people show signs of psychopathy during childhood or adolescence, early intervention is often crucial.
Early intervention programs typically focus on building empathy, managing stress, improving family relationships, and processing emotions in healthy ways.
Some of these programs occur in juvenile detention centers, as juvenile offenders are significantly more likely to exhibit psychopathic traits.
Substance abuse counseling: Many people with psychopathy or ASPD also have at least one substance use disorder (SUD). Targeted substance abuse counseling and psychoeducation (which teach people about the negative consequences of their actions) can reduce the risk of harmful drug and alcohol use among people with antisocial and/or psychopathic traits.
Behavioral therapy: Studies indicate that targeted behavioral interventions may help reduce the risk of violent and criminal behavior among incarcerated people with psychopathic traits.
Behavioral therapy for psychopathy usually focuses on reading social cues more accurately, managing anger, developing healthy coping skills, and improving social skills.
Final Words
Can a psychopath love someone? Psychopaths are capable of love, but it’s a very possessive and obsessive form of love when they do.
Psychologists say that there are several levels of psychopathy. If a person does not show many typical signs of psychopathy, they have a better chance of falling in love.
Psychopaths can also feel lonely and want to be loved. However, due to a lack of emotional attachment and an inability to open up to another person, they find it difficult to establish a healthy relationship.
