The Psychopath Effect

Do you ever look at the megalomaniacs who rule the world, the CEOs with their casual cruelty, and wonder if they ever see the harm they do? Do you even look closer, at the people you love, and question how someone supposed to care for you can be so cold?



We all know what psychopathy is. We have witnessed the chilling words and lack of empathy play out on our screens. Those who can't hold eye contact, whose smiles don't reach their eyes. For decades, we have looked at psychopathy as something other - and certainly not existing side by side with us every day. But psychopaths don't just exist on our screens, they exist in our communities, within our offices, our social circles and, sometimes, within our very own families.

In today's society, being a psychopath has become valuable. We reward boldness, elevate the fearless and applaud those unconstrained by expectation. The Psychopath Effect is the story of those psychopaths - the ones who are searingly antagonistic yet still have a job, who approach empathy as an optional extra, yet still have a family. Those whose temper rests on the most sensitive of hair triggers, yet who still have friends.

Psychopaths affect the very idea of ourselves, infecting our lives with the trauma they leave behind. Not knowing precisely what we are dealing with makes removing ourselves from their effects far more difficult. In this ground-breaking new book from expert psychologist Dr Emma Kavanagh, the psychopath effect is finally exposed. Through case studies and new research, we track the psychopath as a stranger, moving closer through acquaintanceship, meeting them as colleagues, all the way up to being the partner and child of a psychopath.

'Psychopathy only works if the environment allows it. And we are the environment.'