Confusion, turmoil and abuse may all flow from a psychopathic sibling.   Source: Giang Pham/Pixabay I grew up in a home with a psychopathic sibling. I did not know that she was a psychopath, but observed that she was vastly different from others I knew who were her age. To me, she was the “big sister,” six...Read More

In 1806, French doctor Philippe Pinel created a category of mental disorder, manie sans délire, or insanity without delirium, which was a forerunner to modern psychopathy.1 His case studies of some who presented intractable and immutable disorders were harbingers of the long-held belief that the disorder may be irreversible and untreatable. Nearly 150 years later, American psychiatrist...Read More

When we think of a mother, we think of unconditional love, warmth, honesty, and compassion—someone who is inviolable. But what about the psychopathic mother? What can her children expect? Source: Mikhail Nilov/Pexels Children of psychopaths are an “inconvenience” In very blunt language, preeminent psychopathy expert Dr. Robert D. Hare states, “Psychopaths see children as an inconvenience.” He...Read More

Some therapies successfully used in treating victims of psychopaths The emotional wounds and scars that psychopaths cause are generally deep and traumatic. Sometimes we believe that the person inflicting pain on us really loves us and so we make excuses for their bad treatment. Often we are in denial until a wake-up call opens our eyes and we...Read More

Psychopaths are often likened to snakes and called “reptilian.” Here’s why. What images are conjured by the word “reptile?”  A snake devouring its prey after either strangling or poisoning it?  A crocodile submerged just below the water’s surface so only its eyes are visible, ready to strike?  Or perhaps an unblinking lizard soaking in the...Read More