JustSocio

sorry to the 25 asks waiting in line but i really wanted to touch on this because this is not how a psychologist should be handling diagnoses. maybe i’m missing some key information, but, though diagnostic tests can be a good tool to use in the diagnostic process, they cannot stand alone. you should have spoken at length about your experiences and symptoms and, when your psychologist came to a diagnosis, they should have spoken about it with you both so you understand what it is and what a treatment plan might look like. even if you had opted not to continue therapy afterwards, there is absolutely no excuse for them throwing you to the wind without so much as an explanation.

I don’t think I’m God. I’m The Horned Fucking King, with a forked tongue and his false crown smitten from his unworthy head.

I want to talk about low empathy or lack of empathy because I have it as a result of trauma/mental illness and have many times in my life faced stigma from just mentioning it to doctors, even though i’m not some sort of murderer people assume I am. i’m using the term ‘sociopath’ even though it’s outdated just because it’s the term people are most familiar with. now…i’m going to go over some common misconceptions.

the reason this post isn’t currently sourced is because i’m on mobile and it would take a ridiculous amount of time, so feel free to ask for specific sources if you need them.

1) “lack of empathy is why ceos carelessly let their employees suffer”

empathy is complex, selective, and manipulated by someone’s view of the world. most of the ceos you assume are sociopaths actually aren’t. let’s take nike’s ceo phil knight for example. nike has been under fire multiple times for relying on sweatshop labor, in which workers are physically and emotionally abused, suffering in dangerous working conditions, and paid next to nothing. when approached about this use of sweatshops in a documentary called ‘the new rulers of the world’, phil knight refused an offer to visit these sweatshops himself and see what’s happening after hearing about all the issues with them. he didn’t seem bothered. watching this, one would assume he shows no interest in investigating because he’s some sort of sociopath…but that’s not the case. his refusal to go is more defensive—he knows that as long as this stays out of his sight, it won’t bother him as much. people are more upset by suffering in the world when witnessing it or experiencing it themselves. so, is it surprising you don’t see these ceos sadistically monitoring the suffering of their workers all the time for pleasure? they purposely remove themselves from it as much as possible. they’re not stupid. this is a lack of compassion and a selfish mindset encouraged by capitalism, not sociopathy. remember, capitalism has its own moral compass—some suffering is seen as necessary or even a good thing. in the case of sweatshops, they’re often justified in the media as stepping stones to economic development (i’ve explained in other posts why this is a lie), so diehard capitalists defending them are entirely capable of feeling empathy, they’ve just been raised in a society with certain ethical standpoints that don’t necessarily reflect reality. of course, it’s possible for someone to reject capitalist ideology, but propaganda is a bit strong there.

2) “serial killers/mass murderers wouldn’t kill if they were empathetic”

even in modern psychology where mental illness is stigmatized and falsely defined, not every serial killer is classified as a sociopath, or even diagnosed with a mental illness at all. many simply go to jail and aren’t considered “insane”. instead, mass murder is often influenced by ideological beliefs or revenge. for example, in the united states, most terrorists hold far-right viewpoints—so, like the nike ceo, ideologically influenced. they don’t wake up one day and think “i’m going to kill people because i’m evil”, their attacks specifically reflect their own beliefs and what they see as right in the world. blaming this on mental illness (which is often done in the media to defend the most common right-wing terrorists, white men) directs attention away from the actual reason for the attacks (a culture of white supremacy) and so long as this is done, nothing will improve.

3) “lots of criminals are psychopaths, so if you lack empathy, you should be locked up”

psychopathy is assessed using a test called the PCL-R, which contains 20 items. it consists of the most stereotypical horror movie traits of a psychopath and correlates them to cluster b personality disorders (borderline, antisocial, narcissistic). not only is this test essentially as “scientific” as silence of the lambs, we already know that prison populations consist mostly of people who are marginalized in society, and often get bigger sentences or even falsely prosecuted. furthermore, certain diagnoses have been used in favor of white supremacy—claiming civil rights activists were schizophrenic, dangerous, etc, generally to deny their experiences. this still happens !! oppositional defiant disorder, for example, is often falsely diagnosed in people who reject authority—i’d argue it shouldn’t even be classified as a disorder, but that’s another topic. also, why is it that people committing the biggest crimes right now are not in jail, respected by many people, and not seen as mentally ill ? henry kissinger’s actions seem to meet a definition of psychopath, but he’s not classified that way. can you see the bias and lies here?

now, some important information:

- people with ~scary~ mental illnesses like schizophrenia and personality disorders are more of a threat to themselves than others. suicide is common, as well as self harm and drug addiction.

- prolonged abuse is a common factor in ‘antisocial’ behavior.

- everyone is capable of compassion, showing compassion towards someone is a choice.