Female Psychopaths - Need for Adulation

"The female  psychopath's interest in others is not based on a desire for greater intimacy, but rather is motivated by a need to be the center of attention."
"[Her] pronounced needs for 'relatedness' and adulation from others form the cornerstone of her Histrionic character."
Carl Gacono and F. Barton Evans, The Handbook of Forensic Rorschach Assessment, (New York 2008) 373, 375.

For more information ... see Born to Destroy at www.winisbooks.com

FEMALE PSYCHOPATHS - Bored and Unable to Feel Loneliness !

 

“Psychopathic individuals know well within themselves ... feelings of sadistic pleasure, contemptuous delight, sudden dysphoria, and, deep within, a profound disquieting boredom.”

"The psychopathic individual ... is most vulnerable to chronic feelings of boredom because he or she aggressively empties the world of meaningful relations to ward off feelings of envy and greed."

 

"Emotional relatedness is ... [absent in the psychopath] , and consequently psychopathic individuals are unable to experience loneliness, the longing for and awareness of the possibility of emotional closeness."

Meloy, J. Reid. The Psychopathic Mind. 110, 111, 114.

 

 For more information ... see Born to Destroy at www.winisbooks.com

Female Psychopaths - Devastating Impacts on Children

Female psychopaths that are mothers have a devastating impact on their children ... some may murder, maim, or expose them to recklessly endangering situations ... others, countless more, intentionally expose their children to psychologically and emotionally damaging circumstances.
Why? What motivates this behavior?  Psychopaths fundamentally devalue others so as to enrich their personal sense of self ... they gain at the expense of others ... including their own children.  Female psychopaths want to dominate, control and win ... and who better to win against than their own children, who are there all the time to exploit.  They are easy prey, and the impacts can reverberate for generations to come.

For more information ... see Born to Destroy at www.winisbooks.com

FEMALE v. MALE PSYCHOPATHS - a special post by Drs. Gacono and Smith

HERE IS A SHORT AND  VALUABLE SUMMARY OF SOME FEMALE vs. MALE PSYCHOPATHY TRAITS, SPECIALLY PREPARED FOR THIS BLOG BY DR. CARL GACONO AND DR. JASON SMITH.

In studying psychopaths for several decades (see Gacono & Meloy, 1994; Cunliffe & Gacono, 2005, 2008; Cunliffe et al., 2016; Smith, Gacono & Cunliffe, in press; Smith et al., 2014), we have found both male and female psychopaths to be callous and lack empathy. They share a cognitive style, as evidenced by their verbalizations, that reflects their callousness, their entitlement, and their refusal to take responsibility for their actions.  One female psychopath who was charged with a sex offense against a young male stated “I hope he burns in hell” while another female psychopath reported she suffered more than the victim she killed because she was incarcerated (victim stance). Both males and females can be conning/manipulative although women may use the “damsel in distress” persona to gain the attention and support she craves (see the case of Karla Homolka).

 While both male and female psychopaths share a borderline or psychotic level of personality organization (see Gacono & Meloy, 1994; Smith et al., 2014), there are noted differences involving self-esteem, emotion regulation, aggression, and their relationships. Male psychopaths effectively utilize their grandiosity to maintain their self-esteem while warding off any internal or external threats to their self-image. They tend to have more aggressive acts.  Females have a pathological self-focus though it coexists with a sense of being damaged.  They also exhibit more painful emotions than their male counterpart.  Female psychopaths can engage the same type of violent acts as males, they tend to use more indirect aggression (verbally aggressive with gossip). Female psychopaths also want to be around others but for selfish reasons (attention) something that male psychopaths do not exhibit (their lack of attachment). These differences are important because one may encounter these females throughout their life as not all are incarcerated. Understanding the female presentation and identifying their patterns could make you less vulnerable to their deceptions and manipulations.

 Jason M. Smith Psy.D. & Carl Gacono, Ph.D., ABAP

 

References:

 Cunliffe, T.B., & Gacono, C.B. (2005). A Rorschach investigation of incarcerated antisocial

                personality disordered female offenders. International Journal of Offender Therapy

                and Comparative Criminology, 49, 530-547.

Cunliffe, T.B., & Gacono, C.B. (2008). A Rorschach understanding of antisocial and psychopathic women. In C. B. Gacono, F.B. Evans, N. Kaser-Boyd, & L.A. Gacono (Eds.). The handbook of forensic Rorschach assessment (pp. 361-378). New York, NY: Routledge.

Cunliffe, T.B., Gacono, C.B., Smith, J.M., Kivisto, A.J., Meloy, J.R., & Taylor, E.E. (2016).

Assessing psychopathy in women. In C.B. Gacono (Ed.), The clinical and forensic assessment of psychopathy: A practitioner’s guide (2^nd ed., pp. 167-190). New York, NY: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.

Gacono, C.B., & Meloy, J.R. (1994). The Rorschach assessment of aggressive and

             psychopathic personalities. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Smith, J.M., Gacono, C.B., & Cunliffe, T.B. (in press). Comparison of male and female

psychopaths on select CS Rorschach variables. Journal of Projective Psychology and Mental Health.

Smith, J.M., Gacono, C.B., Cunliffe, T.B., Kivisto, A.J., & Taylor, E.E. (2014). Psychodynamics

in the female psychopath: A PCL-R/Rorschach investigation. Violence and Gender, 1(4), 176-187.

For additional information about female psychopaths ... see Born to Destroy at www.winisbooks.com

 

 

 

 

 

Female Psychopaths - What the Opposite Looks Like!

Those of you who have come to my presentations know that at the very end, I mention Darlene, a woman I met while staying at a Vermont inn. She was our breakfast waitress and was so cheerful every morning that I asked her, "What makes you so happy?" She said, "I choose to be happy."

I recently reconnected with Darlene while traveling once again in Vermont. I wondered if Darlene would be as cheerful. She was. I heard happy laughter while she served others and her sincere "...You are most welcome" when others thanked her. Everyone who meets Darlene finds her to be happy, helpful and caring. "I choose to be happy," Darlene says.

According to psychopathy researcher, Lucy Foulkes, the psychopath enjoys being cruel and does not enjoy being kind. In addition, Dr. Robert Hare has said that the psychopath's defining traits, such as pathological lying, deception and manipulation, are clearly the result of choice freely exercised. They choose to be cruel, the opposite of Darlene, who chooses to be happy.

Life is all about the choices you make!

Ferreting out a Psychopath

Often people ask me whether someone they know might be a psychopath, or they may describe certain characteristics and insist someone they know is a psychopath.  My answer is always the same:

"It is very difficult to tell if someone is truly a psychopath.  To be a true clinical psychopath, the person must display an array of well-defined psychopathic characteristics across all aspects of his or her life, personal, social, and business ... and display those traits throughout their entire lives.  To tell if someone is a psychopath requires a comprehensive review of their background, interviews with people who have known them, and ultimately, if possible, an interview with the person conducted by a skilled practitioner specially trained to notice psychopathic characteristics."

While it can be hard to make an actual diagnosis, there are clues to put you on guard ... they all display breathtaking unemotionality and callousness ... they are cunning, shrewd, and prone to boast and exaggerate.  Psychopathic females often employ histrionics and extreme emotionality, going ballistic or gushing. 

For more information, see my website at winisbooks.com or my blog https://thepsychopathicfemale.blogspot.com/.  I was a victim of two female psychopaths.

Clues a Psychopath may be near!

When I do sessions about how to spot a psychopath, I provide some clues that may hint that a psychopath is in your midst.  Here are a few:

Beware of someone telling you "this is confidential."  This can be a trick a psychopath uses to pit one person against another. It can also be a psychopath's way to sidle up to you to make you think how special you are that they are giving you this information.

A psychopath's version of "what happened" is often full of inconsistencies, lies and distortions. Confusion can be a sign of a psychopath's presence in a situation.

Psychopaths like to flatter.  Beware of excessive flatteries ... it can be their tool to build your confidence in them, while they are preparing to exploit you for their own gain.

For more information and the lowest price for Winifred Rule's Born to Destroy, see www.winisbooks.com.  Order through the PayPal link only. Price includes shipping and taxes.

Female Psychopaths - Radio Podcast featuring Winifred Rule

Listen to Winifred Rule talking about the Female Psychopath as broadcast on September 4, 2017 on Real Revolution Radio.  Links to the podcast are listed below.  Enjoy!

 

The Hal Steinhart Show on the Real Revolution Radio Network 2.0:

http://www.thehalsteinhartshow.com

The Hal Steinhart Show with Special Guest Winifred Rule (Youtube):

https://youtu.be/aoCzXPariZE

The Hal Steinhart Show with Special Guest Winifred Rule (Spreaker):

http://www.spreaker.com/show/the-hal-steinhart-show_1

Psychopathy Prevalence Venn Diagram

This Venn diagram developed by Dr. Robert D. Hare, a major psychopathy researcher, shows how psychopathy relates to Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) and mental illness in the general population.  Rough estimates by psychopathy researcher put the prevalence of psychopathy at around 1% of the population.  There are no unique statistics for the prevalence of psychopathy among females, but there is no reason to believe it is any different, perhaps it may even be greater since the statistics are extrapolated from prevalence in the prison population, and many believe that female psychopaths are underrepresented there because they can often be less violent.

For more information ... see Born to Destroy at www.winisbooks.com

Summer Reading - Happy & Safe 4th!

A happy and safe 4th of July to everyone!!! Please drive safely! When a person gives you a vulgar hand gesture on the road, ignore it. As one person told me when he received such a sign ..."Why they're telling me I'm # 1." Just remember, all of you are the best and #1.

Acccording to Dr. J. Reid Meloy, a foremost psychopathy researcher and Clinical Professor of psychiatry at the University of California at San Diego: "It is my impression and fear, that psychopathy, and psychopathic disturbance, is a growing clinical and, therefore, sociocultural phenomenon."

So don't give in when baited!

For summer reading and to learn about the psychopath, remember to put Born to Destroy on your reading list. Available in paperback, Kindle or Nook versions at www.winisbooks.com .