The myth of the sociopath, with Patric Gagne

Doing It Right with Pandora Sykes

Pandora Sykes

Society & Culture

4.6 • 835 Ratings

🗓️ 30 April 2024

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What does the term ‘sociopath’ mean to you? Serial killer? Social outcast? Or wait - is that a psychopath? Patric first told her story in a column for the cult Modern Love series, titled ‘He Married a Sociopath: Me’. After the piece received an enormous response, Patric wrote a probing memoir about a life spent searching for answers: Why didn’t she feel guilt or shame like other people? Why did she have this overwhelming feeling of apathy? And how could she escape the strange pressure she felt, without resorting to violence? In this episode, Patric, a qualified psychotherapist, debunks the myths around sociopathy, sharing some of the cons, but also the pros. Above all, she wants us to see that sociopathy is a part of neurodiversity - and not a mere personality type. [NB: ‘sociopath’ is not a recognised psychiatric term in the UK - it comes under ‘antisocial personality disorder’. But Patric thinks the two are different and so I defer to her experience/ language.] Sociopath: A Memoir by Patric Gagne The Perks of Being a Sociopath by Patric Gagne for TIME magazine He Married A Sociopath: Me by Patric Gagne for The New York Times’ Modern Love column Get in touch at [email protected] Presented by Pandora Sykes Sound by Kelsey Bennett Co-production by Pandora Sykes and Kelsey Bennett

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to Doing It Right with me, Pandora Sykes, a podcast where I talk to experts about the myths, anxieties and trends of modern life.
0:12.8	In this series, series four, I'll be exploring topics including postpartum psychosis, sociopathy, and how technology has flattened personal taste.
0:24.7	This is a podcast that asks, what can we do to understand life better?
0:29.9	Not just for ourselves, but for everyone.
0:33.2	For the first time ever, I'm dropping the whole series in one as a capsule box set.
0:37.6	So tuck in.
0:38.7	And don't forget to let me know your thoughts at doing it right pod at gmail.com.
0:47.2	Patrick Gagne, is a sociopath.
0:49.9	What does that word mean to you?
0:52.2	Serial killer, social outcast.
0:55.3	Oh, wait, is that psychopath?
0:57.9	When I picked up Patrick's memoir, sociopath,
1:00.5	it struck me that I really didn't know the difference,
1:03.4	and I bet you don't either.
1:05.7	Patrick first told her story in 2020
1:08.3	in the New York Times cult column Modern Love with the headline,
1:13.2	He Married a sociopath, me.
1:15.8	The response was so big that it led to an eloquent probing memoir, sociopath, where Patrick
1:22.1	spends her adolescent searching for answers. Why didn't she feel what other people felt? How could she escape this
1:29.6	overwhelming apathy? Small acts of violence and theft helped break through the pressure,
1:35.6	the nothingness, but Patrick didn't want to commit crime. She wanted to find another way to survive.
1:43.1	She wanted to find a way to thrive. In this episode,
	...

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