I’m a Diagnosed Psychopath – This Is the Conversational Trick I Use to Manipulate People
Psychopaths are master manipulators. Lacking empathy, they can be cold, uncaring, and calculating in any interaction.
Vic “Path,” who has been diagnosed as a psychopath, recently shared her favorite tactic for manipulating others. It’s surprisingly simple.
“If you want someone to tell you something, if you suspect someone is lying, or if you just don’t want to talk, use this,” she said.
“If someone else finishes a sentence, don’t say anything. Just sit down and watch them.”
She uses this tactic every day to manipulate people, she says.
Vic “Path,” who has been diagnosed as a psychopath, explains her favorite manipulation tactic: awkward silences.
For people who are not psychopaths, it can feel awkward and uncomfortable when a conversation comes to a standstill.
That’s because unexpected silences trigger a stress response in the brain.
When a conversation stalls, the amygdala (the part of the brain that controls our fight or flight responses) sounds the alarm.
That’s why people feel anxious when there are long pauses in a conversation, and feel compelled to fill the awkward silence.
“So that person keeps talking, he keeps going on about the topic he was just talking about,” and he gives away even more information, Vic said.
“It works even better if you have a facial expression that says you expect them to say more.”
This can be especially useful if you suspect that the person you are talking to is being dishonest.
“When they lie, their lies become more and more visible because they just keep filling the silence with more lies,” Vic said.
When Vic was 19, she was diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). Since childhood, she has been a master of manipulation.
People with ASPD often exhibit manipulative and reckless behavior and have little empathy and respect for others.
Their tendency to manipulate others is driven by self-interest—specifically, the desire for power, pleasure, material or financial wealth, or higher social status.
Vic identifies as a psychopath and makes educational TikToks about her experiences with ASPD, teaching people how psychopaths think.
Her condition is very rare. An estimated 1 to 4 percent of American adults have ASPD, and the disorder is three times more common in men than in women.
But not all people with ASPD are psychopaths. Only 25 to 30 percent of people with ASPD meet the criteria for psychopathy.
Other common tactics psychopaths use to manipulate people include gaslighting, guilt-tripping, lying, and disarming people with their charm.