This is a must read book. When I was doing jury duty a few weeks ago I met a wonderful woman…this woman suggested I read this book, and then one week later lent the audio book to me. After reading this book I completely believe Morgan’s stalker was definitely a sociopath, and can not be changed. He will never have feelings like normal people have, and I believe he will go on to do this again, and again. There is no cure for sociopathy. This type of stalker fits right in to society, we don’t really see him do we?
Martha Stout writes: We are accustomed to think of sociopaths as violent criminals, but in The Sociopath Next Door, Harvard psychologist Martha Stout reveals that a shocking 4 percent of ordinary people—one in twenty-five—has an often undetected mental disorder, the chief symptom of which is that that person possesses no conscience. He or she has no ability whatsoever to feel shame, guilt, or remorse. One in twenty-five everyday Americans, therefore, is secretly a sociopath. They could be your colleague, your neighbor, even family. And they can do literally anything at all and feel absolutely no guilt.
How do we recognize the remorseless? One of their chief characteristics is a kind of glow or charisma that makes sociopaths more charming or interesting than the other people around them. They’re more spontaneous, more intense, more complex, or even sexier than everyone else, making them tricky to identify and leaving us easily seduced. Fundamentally, sociopaths are different because they cannot love. Sociopaths learn early on to show sham emotion, but underneath they are indifferent to others’ suffering. They live to dominate and thrill to win.
The fact is, we all almost certainly know at least one or more sociopaths already. Part of the urgency in reading The Sociopath Next Door is the moment when we suddenly recognize that someone we know—someone we worked for, or were involved with, or voted for—is a sociopath. But what do we do with that knowledge? To arm us against the sociopath, Dr. Stout teaches us to question authority, suspect flattery, and beware the pity play. Above all, she writes, when a sociopath is beckoning, do not join the game.
It is the ruthless versus the rest of us, and The Sociopath Next Door will show you how to recognize and defeat the devil you know.
I Feel For You, And Your Fear.
I Became Stalked Last Year, During The Winter.
Terrifying.
I am so sorry to hear that – I hope the stalker was caught or at least you are away from the situation? It is a terrifying situation, and anyone that has never encountered it would not possibly know the extent of that terror. I hope you are now safe.
I was stalked as a 15 year old, but I knew who was doing it. When he finally quit it he focused on my across the road neighbor’s daughter. I warned her, then the death threats started. I was terrified to go anywhere. Police got involved & tapped phone lines and thank God he stopped. It was sickeningly scary.
RIP Morgan x
That is so awful, but I am so happy it stopped.
It’s great the police tapped the phone lines – were they able to arrest him, or did he just stop? Did they give you a restraining order when the death threats started?
Steve showed me this article this morning about “Restraining orders have to be taken seriously.” You can view it at http://extras.denverpost.com/news/violence/viol0912.htm It addresses 3 recent high-profile domestic abuse cases, not stalking cases, in Grand Junction, Fort Collins and Colorado Springs, CO, but since it addresses restraining orders I thought it was important to mention, because everyone needs to understand that every case has the potential to be lethal, and they need to be taken seriously…I am so very glad you are safe now. Take care, and thanks for sharing your story – I feel like every time everyday people share their own horrific stories about their stalkers it let’s others know that stalking doesn’t just happen to celebrities – it can happen to anyone, at any time.