The sociopath next door : the ruthless versus the rest of us

Who is the devil you know? Is it your lying, cheating ex-husband? Your sadistic high school gym teacher? Your boss who loves to humiliate people in meetings? The colleague who stole your idea and passed it off as her own? In the pages of The Sociopath Next Door , you will realize that your ex was not just misunderstood. He’s a sociopath. And your boss, teacher, and colleague? They may be sociopaths too. We are accustomed to think of sociopaths as violent criminals, but in The Sociopath Next Door , Harvard psychologist Martha Stout reveals that a shocking 4 percent of ordinary people—one in twenty-five—has an often undetected mental disorder, the chief symptom of which is that that person possesses no conscience. He or she has no ability whatsoever to feel shame, guilt, or remorse. One in twenty-five everyday Americans, therefore, is secretly a sociopath. They could be your colleague, your neighbor, even family. And they can do literally anything at all and feel absolutely no guilt. How do we recognize the remorseless? One of their chief characteristics is a kind of glow or charisma that makes sociopaths more charming or interesting than the other people around them. They’re more spontaneous, more intense, more complex, or even sexier than everyone else, making them tricky to identify and leaving us easily seduced. Fundamentally, sociopaths are different because they cannot love. Sociopaths learn early on to show sham emotion, but underneath they are indifferent to others’ suffering. They live to dominate and thrill to win. The fact is, we all almost certainly know at least one or more sociopaths already. Part of the urgency in reading The Sociopath Next Door is the moment when we suddenly recognize that someone we know—someone we worked for, or were involved with, or voted for—is a sociopath. But what do we do with that knowledge? To arm us against the sociopath, Dr. Stout teaches us to question authority, suspect flattery, and beware the pity play. Above all, she writes, when a sociopath is beckoning, do not join the game. It is the ruthless versus the rest of us, and The Sociopath Next Door will show you how to recognize and defeat the devil you know. The Washington Post - Martha Scout In summary, I recommend this book, especially to those who think they may be vulnerable to sociopaths. It contains good stories, useful advice and clinical and scientific nuggets Who is the devil you know? Is it your lying, cheating ex-husband? Your sadistic high school gym teacher? Your boss who loves to humiliate people in meetings? The colleague who stole your idea and passed it off as her own? In the pages of The Sociopath Next Door , you will realize that your ex was not just misunderstood. Hes a sociopath. And your boss, teacher, and colleague? They may be sociopaths too. We are accustomed to think of sociopaths as violent criminals, but in The Sociopath Next Door , Harvard psychologist Martha Stout reveals that a shocking 4 percent of ordinary peopleone in twenty-fivehas an often undetected mental disorder, the chief symptom of which is that that person possesses no conscience. He or she has no ability whatsoever to feel shame, guilt, or remorse. One in twenty-five everyday Americans, therefore, is secretly a sociopath. They could be your colleague, your neighbor, even family. And they can do literally anything at all and feel absolutely no guilt. How do we recognize the remorseless? One of their chief characteristics is a kind of glow or charisma that makes sociopaths more charming or interesting than the other people around them. Theyre more spontaneous, more intense, more complex, or even sexier than everyone else, making them tricky to identify and leaving us easily seduced. Fundamentally, sociopaths are different because they cannot love. Sociopaths learn early on to show sham emotion, but underneath they are indifferent to others suffering. They live to dominate and thrill to win. The fact is, we all almost certainly know at least one or more sociopaths already. Part of the urgency in reading The Sociopath Next Door is the moment when we suddenly recognize that someone we knowsomeone we worked for, or were involved with, or voted foris a sociopath. But what do we do with that knowledge? To arm us against the sociopath, Dr. Stout teaches us to question authority, suspect flattery, and beware the pity play. Above all, she writes, when a sociopath is beckoning, do not join the game. It is the ruthless versus the rest of us, and The Sociopath Next Door will show you how to recognize and defeat the devil you know. [The author] reveals [in this book] that a shocking 4 percent of ordinary people--one in twenty-five--has an often undetected mental disorder, the chief symptom of which is that that person possesses no conscience. He or she has no ability whatsoever to feel shame, guilt, or remorse ... They can do literally anything at all and feel absolutely no guilt ... Fundamentally, sociopaths are different because they cannot love. Sociopaths learn early on to show sham emotion, but underneath they are indifferent to others' suffering. They live to dominate and thrill to win ... To arm us against the sociopath, [the author] teaches us to question authority, suspect flattery, and beware the pity play. Above all, she writes, when a sociopath is beckoning, do not join the game.-BooksInPrint Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgments......Page 8 Author's note......Page 10 Introduction: Imagine......Page 11 1. The seventh sense......Page 28 2. Ice people: the sociopaths......Page 45 3. When normal consctence sleeps......Page 61 4. The nicest person in the world......Page 79 5. Why conscience is partially blind......Page 95 6. How to recognize the remorseless......Page 112 7. The etiology of guiltlessness: what causes sociopathy?......Page 129 8. The sociopath next door......Page 149 9. The origins of conscience......Page 173 10. Bernie's choice: why conscience is better......Page 190 11. Groundhog day......Page 206 12. Conscience in its purest form: science votes for morality......Page 218 Notes......Page 228 Index......Page 242 About the author......Page 251 "We are accustomed to think of sociopaths as violent criminals, but in The Sociopath Next Door, clinical psychologist Marth Stout reveals that a shocking 4 percent of ordinary people have an often undetected mental disorder, the chief symptom of which is the complete absence of conscience. They could be your colleague, your neighbor, even family. And they can do literally anything at all and feel absolutely no guilt, shame, or remorse. In The Sociopath Next Door, Dr. Stout teaches you how to identify a sociopath and how to protect yourself from the ones who cross your path--and who may already be wreaking havoc in your life"--Back cover "We are accustomed to think of sociopaths as violent criminals, but in The Sociopath Next Door, clinical psychologist Marth Stout reveals that a shocking 4 percent of ordinary people have an often undeteted mental disorder, the chief symptom of which is the complete absense of conscience. They could be your colleague, your neighbor, even family. And they can do literally anything at all and feel absolutely no guilt, shame, or remorse. In The Sociopath Next Door, Dr. Stout teaches you how to identify a sociopath and how to protect yourseld from the ones who cross your path--and who may already be wreaking havoc in your life"--Back cover