Over the years, we’ve posted more than a few helpful articles regarding the protocol for dealing with true psychopaths. From picking them out based on their beverage choice, or their inability to catch a contagious yawn or even which careers the craziest among us tend to chose, all of the information and tips have been based on the findings of the sane.
Finally, a true psychopath is willing to give some tips on spotting one of his kin.
Jacob Wells claims to have scored 34 on the Hare checklist — the test used to diagnose psychopaths — and spoke with Metro in the UK about the condition and how to spot a psychopath in the crowd. These are the five signs that your boss, your roommate or even your sexual partner might be a true Patrick Bateman.
The first sign is the person is “too perfect.” “I usually present myself as normal at first,” wells explains, “some exceptions being academic settings where I try to present myself as either or a good student or a genius (the first of which I am not, at all), dating settings where I present myself as being perfect, but unaware of it (both lies), or competitive settings where I act humble but intimidating (neither is true in this case either).”
Next, the person is incredibly interesting and engaging. “I will try to be become the most interesting person they know by telling them a true story about myself,” Wells explained.
Third, the person says many things to draw you in. “On the outside, I’m whatever I want you to think I am. I can be normal if need be, or if I’m bored I can be eccentric, a genius, or whatever else to get some reaction or provoke interest.”
The fourth clue that you’re dealing with a psychopath is the person bends over backwards to do a ton of favors.
‘I offer to solve their problems, in any way possible, and then ask them how far to take it so I don’t violate their morals. I keep secrets, and tell them fake secrets to gain their trust, and once they trust me enough, I ask for favours, reminding of the favours I did them. I can get literally anything from them, which is incredibly useful.’
Finally, the last warning sign that a psychopath is in your company, is that the person is a leader who doesn’t really give a crap about his or her followers. Wells explains it “we aren’t held back by empathy, guilt, emotional thinking, or other irrationalities (with the sole exception of ego, which empaths are guilty of as well).”
In case you’re still not convinced, here are more tips, including information on the Hare test. Just in case you think the psychopath in your life might be you.
[via Metro]