Jennifer Esqueda

P.1

Psychology Research, Psychopathy

There are seven billion people in the world. When thats said, it doesnt seem that

extraordinary, but if you tried to count to seven billion it would take you over thirty years.

Seven billion seconds ago, it was 1780. If you walked seven billion steps, you could

circle the earth one hundred and six times. Seven billion is a rather large number, and

only one percent of the population is diagnosed with being a psychopath. With that

being said, it is speculated that on average you walk by seven psychopaths on an

everyday basis.

What is Psychopathy? It is one of the most difficult disorders to spot. People

diagnosed with the disorder can appear normal, or even charming. Psychopaths lack

empathy and a conscience. (www.psychologytoday.com) Which is what essentially

makes it so easy for them to commit horrific crimes against humanity. Researchers have

found that one of the reasons why psychopaths lack emotion is caused by the reduced

gray matter in the brain, and deformation of the amygdala. Adrian Raine, chair of the

Department of Criminology at the University of Pennsylvania states that The amygdala

is the great seat of emotion.. They lack emotion, remorse and guilt. Some of the

main symptoms are superficial charm, inflated sense of self worth, constant need of

stimulation, shallow emotions, lying, and lack of empathy. There is no actual way of

diagnosing psychopathy, the best way to diagnose is to revise the psychopathy

checklist.
 According to the US National Library of Medicine Psychopathy has primarily been

studied in men. Relatively little research has examined whether psychopathy even exists in

women Most studies have examined men with the disorder, more males have been

diagnosed rather than females. Most women that have psychopathic traits are

commonly diagnosed with other diseases, such as borderline personality disorder,

bipolar, and schizophrenia. Psychopathy is so much more common in men, that the

ratio is 20:1. The prevalence of the disorder is about one percent of the population,

while in prisons about twenty percent of inmates qualify for the diagnosis. Although

there is not much found on how the stigma of psychopathy, one can only assume that

people diagnosed as a psychopath are treated much differently than others, one might

be frightened by a psychopath and try their best to stay away from them because often

times they can be labeled as murderers and other harsh names that may not

necessarily be true. People can be diagnosed as a psychopath at any age, but they can

start showing symptoms as early as eight years of age.

Most people who are psychopaths can live a fairly average life considering they

are very aware of who they are and what they do, they do although, find it harder to

relate to people and maintain relationships. Some people say that they've always felt

that they were different than others, and had spent their entire life trying to fit into a role.

Numerous of psychopaths lack empathy and have had a few run ins with the law,

although there are quite a few who have not and have kept their hands clean. A lot of

times people with the disorder find themselves all alone, because they tend to not care

about how others feel. According to Dr. Bruce Gage, Chief of Psychiatry for the
Washington Department of Corrections and Professor at the University of Washington

speaks about how psychopaths often demonstrate a failure to take responsibility for

their actions.

Is there a cure for psychopathy? According to most doctors there is no cure, no

amounts of therapy or medicine can cure the deformity in someones brain. There are

no studies that show the success rates of treatments and there is also no evidence of

there being any relapse rates.

I have learned that the statistics for the population of psychopaths in the world is

only one percent, but it can still be quite a variety of people. You can pass about seven

psychopaths in just one day. I dont necessarily think that I have changed throughout

the assignment but I am more aware about the the lesser one percent of the population

that are capable of murder and other types of horrific crimes. My behavior has changed

in the sense that maybe I will be just a bit more cautious of people I befriend and

aquaint myself with.

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