Hare Psychopathy Checklist

Psychopathy is among the most difficult disorders to spot. The psychopath can appear normal, even charming. Underneath, he usually lacks conscience and empathy, making him manipulative, volatile and sometimes criminal. It is an object of popular fascination and clinical anguish: adult psychopathy is largely impervious to treatment, though programs are in place to treat callous, unemotional youth in hopes of preventing them from maturing into psychopaths. Psychopathy is a spectrum disorder and can be diagnosed only using the 20-item Hare Psychopathy Checklist. The bar for clinical psychopathy is a score of 30 or more. Brain anatomy, genetics, and a person’s environment may all contribute to the development of psychopathic

Some psychopaths are superficially adapted to their environment and are even popular, but they feel they must carefully hide their true to others. This leaves psychopaths with a difficult choice: adapt and participate in an empty, unreal life, or do not adapt and live a lonely life isolated from the social community. Psychopaths are known for needing excessive stimulation, but most foolhardy adventures only end in disillusionment because of conflicts with others and unrealistic expectations. Furthermore, many psychopaths are disheartened by their inability to control their sensation-seeking and are repeatedly confronted with their weaknesses. Although they may attempt to change, low fear response and associated inability to learn from experiences lead to repeated negative, frustrating, and depressing confrontations, including trouble with the justice system. As psychopaths age, they are not able to continue their energy-consuming lifestyle and become burned-out and depressed while they look back on their restless life full of interpersonal discontentment. Their health deteriorates as the effects of their recklessness

A considerable number of psychopaths die a violent death a relatively short time after discharge from forensic psychiatric treatment as a result of their own behavior. Psychopaths may feel that all life is worthless. Psychopathic individuals take the lives of their victims, at least figuratively, sometimes literally. The aftermath of victimization by a psychopathic individual often impacts every sphere of a person’s life. Victims are harmed psychologically, emotionally, physically, financially, and socially. The devastation can be far reaching. Since victimization by psychopathic romantic partners and spouses often occurs in early and middle adulthood, victims may lose the most productive years of their lives. Children who grow up coping with a psychopathic parent may experience developmental harm that is life-long. In the past decade, neurobiological explanations have become available for many of the traits of psychopathy. For example, impulsivity, recklessness or irresponsibility, hostility, and aggressiveness may be determined by abnormal levels of neurochemicals, including monoamine oxidase, serotonin and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, triiodothyronine, free thyroxine, testosterone, cortisol, adrenocorticotropic hormone, and hormones of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal and hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal