First note that my example is not one of extreme severity. Joe however, does show examples of what a sociopath would act like in everyday situations. If you know someone like Joe, let he or she think they do indeed have the upper hand. Joe’s mental disease is a scary one, and I would advise to only maintain a relationship in which he is most comfortable, meaning you should try to only maintain an extremely superficial level of friendship with this person.
Meet Sally
Sally is an artist at a studio in Austin, Texas. She dropped out of college the last year she was there because she believed her beautiful artwork was going to make her famous. To any normal person, Sally seems a little disorganized, very polite, and maybe a little dramatic. Although Sally’s studio is doing well, she is not able to keep all the money she makes. A few years earlier, Sally went on EBAY and charged thousands of dollars worth in clothes to her parent’s credit card. Although Sally does not send money to them most of the time in an effort to pay them back, she believes one day she will.
When it comes to saving her own money for her own purposes though, Sally is frugal, and for the most part does a good job staying in balance. Sally is usually very up, or very down. Only those close to her know about the mood variations. She can bring others down very easily, and often does without noticing or trying. Sally has bipolar disorder.
Bipolar disorder is very prevalent in today’s society. When dealing with someone who may show these symptoms, one must be extremely considerate. When this person is low, they may easily lash out at you, so remember who you are dealing with. Try to remain as calm as possible with them. When the person is on a high, let them be. Try to guide them out of any irrational decisions they may be making, but do not be patronizing.
Meet Katherine
Katherine is a teacher in a local elementary school. She loves children, and is usually a pleasure to be around. To her fellow employees and even to the children, Katherine sometimes gets demanding and impulsive about how she wants things done. Katherine worries all the time, about things that are not real life problems. Her mind is always fluttering around, and although she realizes that it is abnormal to be that obsessive and often addresses it, she still is constantly worrying.
Article comments
1 - flawedplan
This is an education in stereotyping, stigma and what is, for lack of a better term, biobabble. People with psychiatric diagnoses are capable of speaking for themselves, all else is hubris.
2 - Douglas Mays
Geez, glad you brought up the subject in this modern day and age. Christ, the world of psychiatry and therapy is so cro-mag. OK, let me say that there are a few good people in the current industry, but for the most part it is criminal.
I say that because hhhmmm...I guess it comes down to the ego of the people surrounding the so-called mentally ill person. Psychiatry sure seems like a cottage industry of the pharmacy world. You will find that a lot of therapists are just messed up people that get into the industry to 'help' people. Sociopaths like Joe mentioned above, will target environmentally damaged people, whose mental illness is actually not that bad, to be a friend. As you mentioned, Joe's sociopathy prevents him from having real friends (for good reason). So by shoving the targeted person further and further into the mental illness label, a very sick control is created....ugh! The targeted person only becomes worse in a reactive way, therefore validating the 'mental illness' false label.
Anyway, mental illness has to do with the mind. Very few in the industry actually know anything about the flow of the mind of the individual. A generic paint brush of assessment is usually the result.
The misuse of knowledge and law as a tool of oppression.
OK, I could go on, but that is enuf for now...
Stand Up!!
DM
3 - Marcia L. Neil
Modern public schools provide extracurricular sports programs so that individuals demonstrating such competence can move directly into a physical education teaching career path. However, those chosen often believe that they can instead do anything they want, forming elite influence networks to do exactly that--such beliefs and activities cause mental illness among the general populace.