If you met Patrick Gagne in person, you probably wouldn’t think she was a sociopath. But that’s just who she is, and she’s writing about it in her next book. biography It was named after her life story of antisocial personality disorder. Even though sociopaths are considered “the worst and most immoral among us,” David Marchese writes, new york times, Gagne says it’s more nuanced than that. “Sociopathy is a dangerous mental disorder. The traits associated with sociopathy are not that great,” she admits. “People want to believe that all sociopaths are monsters, and that all monsters are easy to spot.” You can be a sociopath and still get an education. That’s a very uncomfortable reality for some people.” What particularly stood out from Gagné and Marchese’s conversation: Here are some.
- Early signs: Gagne said she stabbed a classmate in the head with a pencil when she was in second grade. “The only thing I knew was that I was doing something,” he added. Under this pressure, something in my brain was telling me, “If I hit that girl, it’ll be easier.” ”
- family life: Gagne talks about her seemingly healthy relationships, including her husband and their two school-age children. “I didn’t have that instant feeling of, ‘My baby is born, I’m so full of love,'” she writes of her children. “It was, ‘I don’t know this person. This person is so loud!'” That connection just doesn’t exist, it’s not innate. But it can be built up over time. ”
- Her role as a therapist: Gagne has previously counseled patients with the same diagnosis as her, and feels she is qualified to do so. “My gift to the patients I’m treating is that I’ve been able to make them antisocial,” she says, and ask, “Why do you care? What’s the point? What do you need from it?” he said.
- Temptation: Gagne admitted that she has to work every day to resist her own antisocial impulses, citing one “very vanilla” example. Mental note: “Next time I’ll steal this.” ”
Read the full interview here. (You think you can tell by listening to Gagne’s story that she’s a sociopath? Look it up. this quick clip. )
