Psychopathy and sociopathy among females.

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Those of you who follow the news might be aware that police recently arrested a man they believe to be "The Golden State Rapist" also sometimes called "The Original Night Stalker", one of the many serial killers who terrorized the public during the 70s and 80s.

Like most serial killers, "The Golden State Rapist" is very likely a psychopath/sociopath...there are some distinctions between the two but all sociopaths are psychopaths. I will not make a distinction for the purpose of this post and will just call both psychopaths.

These are basically people who are so profoundly lacking in empathy for others that they tend relate to others as one would to non sentient objects, and have little to no regard for others and little to no actual remorse when they cause others harm. Unlike people on the spectrum who can typically empathize when they know what to empathize about, psychopaths may very well know what is going on and that a person is sad or hurt or afraid, and they really just can't care. Torturing animals is a well noted childhood past time of some psychopaths. Despite their severe, multidimensional empathy deficit, some psychopaths can be quite charismatic and socially adept, even the serial killers. However, not all psychopaths are violent.There is a such thing as a "functional psychopath". While they are no more inclined to feel empathy or feel remorse for hurting another person than violent psychopaths, violence just isn't their interest. They are more inclined to become CEOs, politicians, lawyers, and even doctors.

Psychopathy is linked to significantly reduced activity in certain parts of the brain, and like many neurological conditions, affects males more than females, however there are female psychopaths. On the extreme end of the psychopath spectrum, male psychopsths and female psychopaths differ little, if at all, but the majority of the psychopathic serial killers are male.

It has got me wondering, what would these male psychopaths who became serial killers be like without testosterone exposure? How would they have turned out if they were still psychopaths but female?

Well there are psychopathic female serial killers, however unlike their male counterparts, they typically don't kill out of sexual rage and misogyny. Instead, they typically kill for monetary gain, and they tend to do so by poisoning their victims, who are usually men in their care...typically a husband though sometimes boarders who receive pension or social security checks, though on one occasion a woman killed her children who she had taken out life insurance policies on. Recently, a woman, who I believe is most likely a female psychopath, murdered another woman who she thought she resembled, to steal her identity.

I suspect, however, that a greater percentage of female psychopaths are functional psychopaths than male psychopaths are (though they are still outnumbered by functional male psychopaths).

So what does a functional female psychopath look like?

A few years ago the medical board in one state actually moved to revoke the license of a doctor, who was also a lawyer, due to her "balanced billing" practices. Essentially, she would serve as an on call specialist for ERs, a situation under which a doctor is obliged to accept a patients' insurance, and then she would refuse to accept the lower insurance payment and pursue the patient for full payment. However she would do this by filing lawsuits against them and liens on their homes. The aggressiveness to which she pursued these individuals was such that she was ordered to cease such practices, fined over $500,000 and sentenced to 5 days in jail. While I don't know if this woman is a functional psychopath, her actions certainly seem like something one might do.

On the more benign end of things, I recall once reading one of those "Dear Abby" type columns. A woman wanted advice because her mother kept trying to make plans with her, and she wasn't interested in having a relationship with her even though they had no "bad blood" between them, because she felt they had nothing in common. That just struck me as an incredibly psychopathic way to think about one's mother. My mother and I don't really have many common interests but she is still my mother and I still want her in my life.

Anyway I just find psychopathy incredibly foreign and bizarre.

Even though I might be a little blind to someone's emotional state on occasion, this is visual processing issue and I certainly do feel for them when I realize their state.

I sometimes say, jokingly (sort of), that poison is much better for killing someone than shooting them or carving them up. It's a lot less bloody, watching the effects of the poison can be entertaining, and it mimics the symptoms of common illnesses so it can be a long time before anyone gets suspicious if you give your victim low enough doses.

Poisoning is often worse then being shot or stabbed to death. It's much more slow and painful and sadistic. For years I've had a morbid fascination with reading about poisonous substances and how sick they can make someone before killing them. It'd be so easy, too. I could just put antifreeze in someone's jello, because unlike many other poisons antifreeze has a sweet taste that can be easily disguised in sweet foods.

But i| don't really want to kill anyone. I just want to give them a little "treat", like a ride in an ambulance helicopter.