The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout

Paperback:  The conscience of a people is their power. - John Dryden

1 in 25 ordinary Americans secretly has no conscience and can do anything at all without feeling guilty.  Who is the devil you know?

Is it your lying, cheating ex-husband?  Your sadistic high school gym teacher?  Your boss, who loves to humiliate people in meetings?

We are accustomed to think of sociopaths as violent criminals, but in The Sociopath Next Door (2005), clinical psychologist Martha Stout reveals that a shocking 4 percent of ordinary people have an often undetected mental disorder, the chief symptom of which is the complete absence of conscience.

They could be your colleague, your neighbour, even family.

And they can do literally anything at all and feel absolutely no guilt, shame, or remorse.

In The Sociopath Next Door, Dr Stout teaches you how to identify a sociopath and how to protect yourself from the ones who cross your path - and who may already be wreaking havoc in your life.

"According to the current bible of psychiatric labels, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV of the American Psychiatric Association, the clinical diagnosis of "antisocial personality disorder" should be considered when an individual possesses at least three of the following seven characteristics:

1)  failure to conform to social norms

2)  deceitfulness, manipulativeness

3)  impulsivity, failure to plan ahead

4)  irritability, aggressiveness

5)  reckless disregard for the safety of self or others

6)  consistent irresponsibility

7)  lack of remorse after having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another person.

Given the radically contradictory behavior we witness everyday, we must talk openly about both extremes of human personality and behavior.  To create a better world, we need to understand the nature of people who routinely act against the common good, and who do so with emotional impunity.  Only be seeking to discover the nature of ruthlessness can we find the many ways people can triumph over it, and only by discovering the dark can we make a genuine affirmation of the light.  It is my hope that this book will play some part in limiting the sociopath's destructive impact on our lives," wrote Dr Stout in her Introduction.

About the author:  Martha Stout, PhD - a clinical psychologist in private practice where she specializes in recovery from psychological trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicidality - served on the faculty in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School for twenty-five years also served on the academic faculties of The New School for Social Research, the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology, and Wellesley College.  She is also the author of The Myth of Sanity (2001) and The Paranoia Switch (2007).  She lives on Cape Ann in Massachusetts.