Country-of-liars apparently provided material to the CBS-TV network.

I’m not much of a television watcher … never have been.

But for some reason, last night I turned on the TV and Miami CSI was just beginning. Though not intending to, I watched the entire episode. And I’m glad I did.

It was the ending that got me. As the “detective” delivered his lines, I froze. He told his associate how he resembled a psychopath, and with that, stated a list of five traits in the exact same order that I wrote mine here, and used the exact same words. I must have been meant to watch that show.

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Revised: 2011.3.12Does “bad-upbringing” create a sociopath?

Upbringing will not make a psychopath, nor prevent one.

What defines “bad-upbringing” anyway?  What defines “good-upbringing”?

Consider this: if “bad-upbringing” can create a psychopath, then “good-upbringing” should prevent one. The argument is flawed, since if one is true, so should be the other; if one is false, then they are both false.

I know as fact that even a strong, compassionate bond with your well-liked kids is no match for the bad gene. In most cases, continue reading…

All names have been changed to protect my innocent ass.

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Multi-Tasking: The Psychiatrist as a Disciple.

When I first met Dr Esbe in 2006, I was immediately taken by his charisma. He seemed like someone who wasn’t a psychiatrist — easy going, charming, with a quick and easy-smile; so as far as shrinks go, he seemed relatively normal.

As a comparison, I’ve seen two other shrinks in my life — one would easily fit in the ADHD¹ category, while the other would probably feel at home in the OCD² group. But Dr Esbe seemed more like the LDA³ type to me.

Additionally, since I have no medical insurance, Dr Esbe agreed to take me on pro-bono. Because of that, I wanted to give something in return. Something of value. I knew it would make me feel much better about it, since I was not used to getting stuff for nothing. My botched surgery of a few years ealier has made me see life from vantage points I never imagined. continue reading…

 
Maybe you’re in a position now that requires you to hire staff. That usually means you also have the responsibility to let others go.

People working for me had to work really hard to lose their job. When I identified someone as losing focus, passion, or ambition, I’d climb aboard. I wanted to find out what was causing the change. Generally, one doesn’t go from a valued employee to a questionable employee just as a whim.

It may not be something they wanted to talk about at first, and that’s OK, as it was not the most important aspect. I respected their privacy, and they knew that. But after they realized I was truly concerned about them, and my focus was on their well-being, they virtually always opened up. When we got to that point, I felt fairly sure that I saved a good employee.

There’s usually something at the base of it all, something responsible for the trauma — potentially outside the office environment — and that “something” can usually be fixed. Usually.  But what if it’s an excellent employee who became ineffective, virtually overnight, as well losing his ability to keep his high performance and work-quality ratings? This is someone who’s been with the company a long time. continue reading…

An overwhelming trait of sociopaths is that they are void of common human emotions. Besides having no remorse or guilt, they do not have the ability to love, feel compassion, or be passionate. They are busy building their following, spewing their manipulative lies, and feeling the need to be the center of attention.

Therefore, it would seem to infer that those who are genuinely opposite to the above — individuals with true human emotions, and are content with a few good friends over a mass of gullible followers — are less likely to be sociopaths. Maybe not just less likely, but most likely.

The Process of Elimination

Maybe the process of elimination would be an accurate determination of not only who isn’t but who may well be.

The Shy-Types

In very general terms, how about people who have a quiet disposition, generally stick to themselves, those who may be considered shy. At work, they actually spend their time doing their job instead of schmoozing with whoever happens to be in the lunchroom. Sociopath? I would bet not. continue reading…

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Editor’s Note :: I came across this article on wikiHow, and found that it contained some useful information. It speaks in very general terms, but does not address sociopaths. Also, to use some of the visual techniques, you would need to know the person ahead of time, to compare how they would normally react. Be cautious with the details described, though, since they could apply to virtually anyone.

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Reprinted from wikiHow under a Creative Commons license
 
Watching facial expressions in order to determine whether a person is lying might just save you from being a victim of fraud, or it could help you figure out when somebody’s being genuine. Jury analysts do this when assisting in jury selection. The police do this during an interrogation. You have to learn the little facial and body expressions that can help you distinguish a lie from the truth.

My name is Charles, and I have been studying lies for a few years now. This is not bogus material, real FBI and TSA agents use it. I have a 97% accuracy in detecting lies and hope this will help you. This is is an edited version from an unknown user. continue reading…

. . . continued from Part 2
Back Surgery, November 7, 2001, 06:00, Piedmont Hospital.

2001 Nov 7, Wed

Karan, a woman I had met just a few months earlier, had offered to drive me to the hospital. It was not convenient for her in the least, either.

She had to drive an hour to get to my home from her’s, then travel another hour to get to the hospital. When we pulled up, I told Karan she could just drop me off at the entrance.

Her response was a very firm, “No way, I’m walking in with you.”

Karan won that dispute as she drove right to the parking deck and found a convenient spot. As soon as I checked-in, I was told they were ready for me in pre-op, so Karan gave me a hug, and wished me the best.

Within minutes of arriving in pre-op, they had run an IV, and suddenly, I had not one single care in the world. Shortly thereafter, my life was in the hands of an unnamed anesthesiologist.  continue reading…

continued from Part 1 . . .

January 2001

In late January, I began getting muscle spasms in my left shoulder. Within a week, I could no longer lie down, forcing me to sleep in a chair. The pain in my upper back and shoulders was becoming unbearable.

One evening, I was in my daughter’s room when I tossed her comforter onto the bed. That simple action almost took me out, by a new level of intense, acute nerve pain, unlike anything I had ever felt. continue reading…

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Synopsis :: If you’re looking for the “cheat-sheet” of rules to identify a sociopath, this article is a must-read.

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Google the phrase: “how to identify a sociopath” and you’ll find pages, upon millions of pages, with 1-10 lists, bullet-pointed lists, all written defining how to spot a sociopath, and what to do when facing one … sort of like the Web’s version of sound-bite plagiarism.

Sorry, but my subject line is intentionally misleading, and is so to make a very important point — don’t be suckered. The Web is filled with new sites featuring short “how-to” articles, written by a new breed of amateur writers looking for their 15-minutes of fame, and to make a buck.

Non-jounalists, non-experts, and non-experienced individuals writing about very serious topics that they simply re-purpose from others like them … and it goes on and on.

More of these “public-reporting” Web sites are popping up all the time, allowing virtually anyone to write about topics without any sort of “check” on their sources or accuracy. If the Web has succeeded in spreading any character flaw, it’s got to be “gullibility.” Blind leading the blind? continue reading…

PART 1: Events Leading up to the First Red Flag.

 

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Synopsis :: This is the detailed story about how I discovered, at the age of 50, that my oldest sister is an evil psychopath. Even though she exhibited various traits over her entire life, it all came down to one little accident — the first red flag — and how I was determined to find where it led.

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From his pre-school years, my son David showed a strong knack for logic, intelligence and wit … well beyond his years. That was supported in his annual test scores, the national testing meant to compare students nationwide, by age and grade.

He consistently scored in the top 1% in both science and mathematics, and the top 10% is just about everything else. David had read more books by the time he hit middle school than I’ve read in my entire life. And in sixth grade, he was invited to attend our state university’s Saturday School for the Gifted. continue reading…