The Psychology Thread

That is hardly unique, you know. I'd still hang back from the "sociopath" label and not invest so much of it into my conscious image of myself, if I were you.

For starters, you don't seem to have the raging narcissism usually associated with it. Antisocial personality traits you may well have, but not necessarily enough of them or the behavioural ones that'd plunk you into disorder territory. And, certainly not enough to hang that particular albatross around your own neck.

That you even try to puzzle that giggle (likely of embarrassment/ implicit apology) out at all is a pretty good indication that you are not in any classical bracket.

Hmm: I hope whoever else you see tests you out for Aspergers. You'd be surprised how often that gets mistaken for antisocial personality disorder (low-mid scoring). Or visa versa.

edited 6th Mar '15 7:41:56 PM by Euodiachloris

Based on what you have told us, that does not surprise me.

About that, its...kind of central in a problem I have.

You could say my ego and body image issues do not go well together.

I seem to alternate between feeling I am the most handsome, model-like man I have ever seen, and absolutely loathing myself for not matching my self image. I could not fit among the jock clique in high school because I did not have the physical fitness. That was the clique I wanted, public adoration without...without them having to look inside, and see the monster therein. I did not want to be the nerdy kid I turned out to be. My friends to this day think I enjoyed hanging out with them. When in fact, I hated each and every one of those useless sad sacks.

There's my issue - I feel betrayed by my own bodily composition. I've tried starving myself, going to anorexic levels to try to get a six pack, but nothing ever works. I hate the people who won't look at me as one of them, and I hate myself for failing to be what I want me to be.

I vacillate between staring at myself in mirrors and hating showers because it means looking at my reflection.

And I'm aware of every shift, every little degradation. I am aware of how I shift my perception of myself, and I know who and what causes it. Those people who incite these changes in my self perception, I hate them all.

OK — body image issues and projected self loathing on others is a whole different kettle of fish that should have been touched long ago. That flipping idiot who diagnosed you before sodding missed possible male anorexic traits?!

Tar and feathers. What did I do with my pitchfork? Who do I dump in the pig pen?

Dude: get the help. Sociopathy need not apply.

The specific situation was one more of lack of social graces than, say, outright harm.

The single minded focus on results without caring for the empathy is not a logical one, as one cannot remove humanity from the fact we have emotions and sensibilities, even if you may not agree with them. So a mathemathical or "logical" connotation of a solution would add this variable.

Basing stuff on just one example and without having the person present is silly though. Go with a psychologist and stuff, but from what I can say and answer the example could be one of many things, from autism to bipolar disorder to intellectual disability, and given those ranges, it is as helpful as saying "You might have nothing, the sniffles, or cancer"

That is because it seems to fade, when I feel like I'm particularly good - those are times when I feel on top of the world. I'm a great golden tanned muscular lord among men. I was born to exert power, to seek the greatest fame and fortune. No matter who I need to step on to get there.

When I was seeing that psychologist, I did not feel those intense, almost anorexic feelings. I was on top of the world, or so I felt.

And then just as suddenly I feel withdrawn and hated. I look at others more successful than myself at the current time in anything, and I hate the fact they exist. I want them to suffer as I have inwardly, to just not be there. Hence why going to the gym often is a problem for me. I feel envious, I want to say or do something to hurt those beautiful people, to damage the luster, to see what is beneath.

edited 6th Mar '15 8:14:05 PM by NickTheSwing

First, ask yourself why you'd prefer "sociopath" (which is now a non-term, I should add) to "cyclic eating disorder with associated affected neurological states" or "bipolar"?

Treating some of those symptoms when you get them could help you work out if it's your actual personality talking; and, possibly, how much antisocial you have or have not got going on... Or, how much is wonky chemicals thanks to e.g. not eating sufficiently well when your body image takes a dive.

edited 6th Mar '15 8:30:47 PM by Euodiachloris

Because in High School my 9th grade PE Teacher compared me to one Eric Harris. He even worried I might...cause an incident, so to speak. I left High School without even touching a gun, by the way.

And that was before any of the issues with my eating habits. I ate just fine - which was a problem. I ate too much, I got disgusting and fat.

When I eat well, I still have...tendencies. My mother calls them tendencies. There was almost a confrontation recently, and now she makes it so I'm not allowed to go to Starbucks while my sister and her love interest are at Starbucks. But I...don't really see any reason to care that she said no.

How much of this do you feel is a problem and how much of this is people telling you it is a problem and you are trusting their word?

Yeah: unravelling "should" and "am" is an issue. <_< Best done honestly and face to face.

Years of invested self-identification as a sociopath may be a factor that needs addressing. Particularly if it turns out to be faulty. After all, there is such a thing as acquiring antisocial traits (but, not a disorder) through training.

I believe that society / other people's word on some of my ideas is true, because I know the play book. I've seen CSI and Criminal Minds. I know that acting out blatantly and hurting others is wrong not because I believe myself it is wrong, but because I've seen the results.

Not because I think violence is wrong. I simply see it'd end with me in prison. If I could get away with it, on the other hand, that is a different story.

Should and am. Huh.

My mother says that there are certain things I just should not do. Like calling that girl who offended me a vulgar animal. I know now I should not do that. I still plan on using my words to hurt her more if we meet again.

I did not even know what a sociopath really was in 9th grade. So it would be hard for me to self identify in such a way that far back.

I've only recently found the word I feel best describes me. I've always known I was different, but I couldn't find the right word. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't see myself as any of the other words people tried to use for me. My mother claimed I was autistic, that I just didn't get social interaction. I knew it wasn't right. I didn't want to be stuck with those useless, disgusting looking saps in that class. I wanted to take a class with people who weren't so fucking annoying with their problems and their whining and their drooling...dammit, some times I wanted to smack that guy behind me.

Then things changed. I became popular in high school (but not popular in the way I wanted, so I was still enraged when they didn't let me stand up with the jocks during an assembly), well spoken, and less shy because I had started lifting weights. I felt strong in a way I had never felt before. I no longer needed to fear retribution. I was able to share my motives, to describe how I was really feeling. I was so easily intimidated before because of how weak and little I was. I knew if I shared my real feelings, it'd end with me getting beaten up.

I suppose there was something earlier on that told me something that functioned as a clue - one day, I felt no emotions at all. Just, nothing. I felt pristine, unbothered. I didn't care that there was a penalty in effect that day, I simply...was.

I could describe my emotions as being like a shallow pond. When someone said something to me in one class, I hated him extremely strongly, I wanted to curse at him and call him out as a stringbeany little nerd. But by the end of class, I chatted amiably with him and said goodbye until next time, that I would enjoy debating him again.

edited 6th Mar '15 9:25:44 PM by NickTheSwing

No, you're not dear. The "playbook" you should concern yourself with is the DSM with the supervision of a professional.

Modern television is a shit way to understand psychology. Most anything really.

What I meant, is that those shows depicted how police do things, and I know that I'm good, but not infallible. I'd make a mistake, and they'd catch me. That is why I don't act up in a criminal way - because I have seen the way it ends.

Again, no.

You want a show that is closer to police work, watch the Wire.

You are a young one aren't you?

The Wire...never heard of it.

Yes, I am young. And stop talking in that way to me.

edited 6th Mar '15 9:57:42 PM by NickTheSwing

It's not fun when someone does it to you is it?

I really don't mind your issues. But I do hope you sincerely get help and actually work with your therapist instead of wasting their time.

So far your attitudes have been working for you because you have been in a pretty safe bubble. However, the older you get the more your world will expand and the chances of you running into someone who isn't going to take your shit increases.

Best to nip it in the bud now while you are young and have less dramatic consequences.

You're not a sociopath. Self esteem issues sure. But not a sociopath.

Not how you think - you were underestimating me. Nobody really seems to think I'm capable of much. They just see a rich, pampered boy who looks nice and has a cute smile at beast.

You dismiss me, you think I'm just self esteem issues and someone too used to their own comfort zone. I cannot stand people who look at me like that.

Actually, no. I take you quite seriously. I am just not threatened by you.

Most people in this thread are professionals in the mental health field. The only one who has probably spent more time working in a mental institution than me is Polarstern.

You're nothing we haven't seen in real life.

If you were a true sociopath, you wouldn't give a damn about my opinions and I wouldn't be able to get under your skin.

Trying to be the scary asshole doesn't impress me. Now I do care about you as a person and can see that such attitudes and perspectives will only lead to more problems for you. It would be nice if we could encourage your articulation and your smarts to work in your favor instead of being an alienating factor. If you were able to channel even a fraction of the personal resources you have shown in a few internet posts into more healthy endeavors, I would bet you could accomplish much for yourself and in general.

What matters is not your opinions. What matters is your underestimation.

You need to read what I wrote again.

I read it, and I'm still going to see my new psychologist, and explain where I'm coming from. Whatever happens there, happens.

That you care about me is irrelevant to that reality.

Not what I was saying man.

The thing is, you have a position. One that has a certain amount of authority, though because its over the net, this diminishes. People who have opinions, who have status, I consider their opinions and let them have weight. Because you have status. Through you and your position, listening to your opinion, I can get what I want. You repeatedly denied me what I wanted and in a way I found infuriating.

While if I came across as scary that is an unintended plus, I am fully capable of employing my articulation and intelligence to benefit myself. In college I may not have that many long lasting relationships, but damn if they are not satisfying, the ends almost as fun as the beginnings.

I'm going to hop in very quickly and commit a cardinal sin of science - talking about a subject that people in this thread have way more knowledge about than I do.

I'm a first-year psych student, but there's a very interesting aspect of psychology that one of our professors explained to us on our first day: People have this image that there's a hard line between being a 'functioning' human being and being a complete sociopath, and the truth (as it is with most things that has to do with the human mind) is more complex. In reality, there's continuity between the 'normal' and 'abnormal', and all it does is illustrate that almost everyone has something in common with people who do genuinely suffer from psychopathology.

That's why first-year psychology students aren't taught to identify and define pathologies in others - it's not something you can learn to do with five minutes on Wikipedia or a Psychology 101. It's a discipline that takes years to understand.

So I'd be careful with clinical labels unless they're just that - clinical. Verified by a scientific authority.

Maybe the two of you should take a moment to cool off a bit.