How to Identify Sociopaths and Sociopathic Behavior

A sociopath is simply defined as a person with antisocial personality disorder. Sociopaths can be difficult to identify even though there are several behaviors that are known to be used by them. Several people have encountered a sociopath at one time or another in their life. It is important to identify a sociopath before they can manipulate you or hurt you. Superficial charm is a major trait in a sociopath. Sociopaths will often "tell you what you want to hear". I know this was the case with the sociopath I once encountered in my life. He would always send flowers, cards and candy and never ran out of positive adjectives. I simply thought he was the most charming guy in the world.

Sociopaths can be master manipulators. I noticed he would use his charm as a way to manipulate. When a gift was given he always expected something in return and before I realized it I would give it to him. I took some time to realize that almost everything I did was to satisfy his manipulations.

Sociopaths are known to be pathological liars. They lie with ease and it seemed impossible for him to be honest more than once in awhile. Every lie he told was every convincing and I was none the wiser for quite some time.

All of his emotions were shallow. His compassion and warmth was always feigned and he always had an ulterior motive. Of course at the time I didn't realize this until a friend of mine passed away and instead of sharing my grief he was unusually cold and had absolutely no emotion for me or the situation.

His lack of empathy is quite noticeable now that I look back, but at the time I allowed him to take advantage of me with it. When I was in a vulnerable state he would jump at the opportunity to get money by saying things like "let me go get you something to cheer you up, but I don't get paid until Thursday so can I borrow a few dollars". Yes, I was being manipulated at the time and I fell for it.

Sociopaths often have a very impulsive nature. He had no sense of boundaries and no concern for the impact his actions had on my life. He had a way of creating hopelessness in me and I was none the wiser that he was doing it.

He was quite irresponsible and unreliable. He would never accept blame for his actions and seemed oblivious to what he did to me and other people. He would actually blame everyone else for his problems and the problems he caused and this seemed completely normal to him.

Juvenile delinquency is common in sociopaths. I didn't learn until after he was out my life that he had a history of juvenile delinquency. It was quite extensive with several assault and harassment charges. I feel lucky to get out when I did before too much physical damage was done.

Sociopaths are very secretive and sneaky. He always seemed to be hiding something or sneaking off somewhere. If I questioned his motives he would become violent and take off.

He seemed unable to feel guilt or remorse. He always tried to justify everything he said and did. To him I think it was justified, but to everyone else it was a red flag.

I took me 4 months to get rid of the sociopath in my life, but some people are less fortunate and go on to marry them or get severely hurt by them. I have severe trust issues now, but for the most part it just made me a stronger person.