From Dr. Martha Stout's influential work The Sociopath Next Door, we learned how to identify a sociopath. Now she tells us what to actually do about it. While the best way to deal with a sociopath is to avoid them entirely, sometimes circumstance doesn't allow for that. What happens when the time comes to defend yourself against your own child, a boss, or ruthless ex-spouse? Inspired by the many chilling and often heartbreaking emails and letters she has received over the years, from her work with the victims of sociopathy, Dr. Martha Stout uncovers the psychology behind the sociopath's methods and provides concrete guidelines to help navigate these dangerous interactions. Organized around categories such as destructive narcissism, violent sociopaths, sociopathic coworkers, and the sociopath in your family, Outsmarting the Sociopath Next Door contains detailed explanation and commentary on how best to react in these situations to keep the sociopath at bay. Uniting these categories is a discussion of changing psychological theories of personality and sociopathy and the enduring triumph of conscience over those who operate without empathy or concern for others. By understanding the person you're dealing with and changing the rules of the game, you'll be able to gain the upper hand and escape the sociopath's influence. Whether you're fighting a custody battle against a sociopathic ex or being gaslighted by a boss or coworker, you'll find hope and help within these pages. With this guide to disarming the conscienceless, Dr. Stout aims to give readers the tools to protect themselves while conducting a broader examination of human behavior and conceptions of normality.

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? The colleague who stole your idea and passed it off as her own? In the pages of The Sociopath Next Door, you will realize that your ex was not just misunderstood. He's a sociopath. And your boss, teacher, and colleague? They may be sociopaths too. 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- 1 in 25 - 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 25 everyday people, therefore, is secretly a sociopath. They could be your colleague, your neighbour, 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.

Wer ist der Teufel in Ihrer Nachbarschaft? Ist es Ihr Ex-Mann, der Sie belogen und betrogen hat? Ihr sadistischer Lehrer in der Schule? Ihr Chef, der gerne seine Untergebenen demutigt? Ihre Kollegin, die Ihre Idee gestohlen hat? Erschreckende vier Prozent unserer Mitmenschen - einer von 25 - weisen eine oft unerkannte Persoenlichkeitsstoerung auf, deren wichtigstes Symptom ein fehlendes Gewissen ist. Die Fahigkeit, Scham, Schuld oder Reue zu empfinden, fehlt Soziopathen voellig. Wie koennen wir sie erkennen? Eines der Hauptmerkmale ist ein Charisma, das Soziopathen reizvoll oder interessant macht. Soziopathen koennen nicht lieben, sie lernen fruh, Gefuhle vorzutauschen. Tatsachlich aber interessieren sie sich nicht fur ihre Mitmenschen. Um uns gegen Soziopathen zu wappnen, lehrt uns Dr. Stout, Autoritat in Frage zu stellen, Schmeichelei mit Skepsis zu begegnen und vor Ruhrseligkeit auf der Hut zu sein.

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?
The colleague who stole your idea and passed it off as her own?
In the pages of "The Sociopath Next Door, you will realize that your ex was not just misunderstood. He's a sociopath. And your boss, teacher, and colleague? They may be sociopaths too.
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 "TheSociopath 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.

Dr. Martha Stouts bedeutendes Werk "Der Soziopath von nebenan" lehrte uns, einen Soziopathen zu erkennen. Jetzt erfahren wir, wie wir uns vor ihm schutzen koennen. Der beste Umgang mit einem Soziopathen ist naturlich, ihm vollkommen aus dem Weg zu gehen, doch manchmal lassen die Umstande dies nicht zu. Was geschieht, wenn Sie sich gegen Ihr eigenes Kind, einen skrupellosen Ex-Mann, einen Chef oder eine andere massgebende Person wehren mussen? Gestutzt auf die vielen erschutternden und oft herzzerreissenden E-Mails und Briefe, die sie im Lauf der Zeit erhalten hat, deckt Dr. Martha Stout die Psychologie hinter den Methoden des Soziopathen auf und bietet konkrete, hilfreiche Grundregeln, um mit diesen gefahrlichen Situationen fertig zu werden. Unter Zuhilfenahme von Kategorien wie destruktiver Narzissmus, gewalttatige Soziopathen, soziopathische Arbeitskollegen, Soziopathie in Unternehmen und Regierungen sowie dem Soziopathen in der Familie wartet dieses Buch mit detaillierten Erklarungen und Kommentaren dazu auf, wie man den Soziopathen am besten in Schach halt. Die Autorin findet dabei heraus, dass Menschen mit einem Gewissen letztlich uber jene triumphieren, die ohne Empathie oder Fursorge fur andere handeln. Wenn Sie die Person, mit der Sie es zu tun haben, verstehen, und die Regeln des Spiels andern, werden Sie die Oberhand gewinnen und dem Einfluss des Soziopathen entkommen koennen. Ob Sie einen Sorgerechtsstreit mit einem soziopathischen Ex fuhren oder von Ihrem Boss oder einem Arbeitskollegen in den Wahnsinn getrieben werden - Sie werden Hoffnung und Hilfe in diesem Buch finden. Mit diesem Ratgeber zur Entwaffnung der Gewissenlosen prasentiert Dr. Stout eine scharfsinnige neue Untersuchung des menschlichen Verhaltens und der Vorstellungen von Normalitat und gibt den Lesern die Tools an die Hand, die sie brauchen, um sich zu schutzen.

From Dr. Martha Stout's influential work The Sociopath Next Door, we learned how to identify a sociopath. Now she tells us what to actually do about it. While the best way to deal with a sociopath is to avoid them entirely, sometimes circumstance doesn't allow for that. What happens when the time comes to defend yourself against your own child, a boss, or ruthless ex-spouse? Inspired by the many chilling and often heartbreaking emails and letters she has received over the years, from her work with the victims of sociopathy, Dr. Martha Stout uncovers the psychology behind the sociopath's methods and provides concrete guidelines to help navigate these dangerous interactions. Organized around categories such as destructive narcissism, violent sociopaths, sociopathic coworkers, and the sociopath in your family, Outsmarting the Sociopath Next Door contains detailed explanation and commentary on how best to react in these situations to keep the sociopath at bay. Uniting these categories is a discussion of changing psychological theories of personality and sociopathy and the enduring triumph of conscience over those who operate without empathy or concern for others. By understanding the person you're dealing with and changing the rules of the game, you'll be able to gain the upper hand and escape the sociopath's influence. Whether you're fighting a custody battle against a sociopathic ex or being gaslighted by a boss or coworker, you'll find hope and help within these pages. With this guide to disarming the conscienceless, Dr. Stout aims to give readers the tools to protect themselves while conducting a broader examination of human behavior and conceptions of normality.

Why does a gifted psychiatrist suddenly begin to torment his own beloved wife? How can a ninety-pound woman carry a massive air conditioner to the second floor of her home, install it in a window unassisted, and then not remember how it got there? Why would a brilliant feminist law student ask her fiancé to treat her like a helpless little girl? How can an ordinary, violence-fearing businessman once have been a gun-packing vigilante prowling the crime districts for a fight?

A startling new study in human consciousness, The Myth of Sanity is a landmark book about forgotten trauma, dissociated mental states, and multiple personality in everyday life. In its groundbreaking analysis of childhood trauma and dissociation and their far-reaching implications in adult life, it reveals that moderate dissociation is a normal mental reaction to pain and that even the most extreme dissociative reaction-multiple personality-is more common than we think. Through astonishing stories of people whose lives have been shattered by trauma and then remade, The Myth of Sanity shows us how to recognize these altered mental states in friends and family, even in ourselves.