Diagnosed Psychopath Reveals How She Experiences Emotions — 'We Do Have Feelings'
The belief that psychopaths are immune from emotions is a common misconception.
twinsterphoto | Canva Pro Contrary to popular belief, people diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) aren’t necessarily void of all emotions. While those with the condition generally lack empathy and remorse for others, they actually do experience a spectrum of emotions in their own way.
One diagnosed psychopath, Vic, who goes by @VicThePath on TikTok, uses her social media platform to spread awareness and information about the reality of ASPD.
The diagnosed psychopath described the unique way she experiences emotions.
Vic began her video by acknowledging that there’s quite a bit of misinformation online regarding psychopaths and their capacity to feel. She debunked the common misconception that individuals with ASPD don’t have any feelings at all.
“Psychopaths do have emotions,” she clarified. “If someone truly felt absolutely nothing, they would basically be a vegetable. There would be no reason to live, no reason to get out of bed in the morning, no reason to do anything.”
Vic explained that psychopaths have motivations, ambitions, and things that make them happy or sad, like everyone else. It's more so that their emotions are dulled.
"I experience pretty much a full spectrum of emotions," she said. "But how I describe my emotions is that I'm on a much lower level than a normal person. It’s like all of my feelings and emotions are muted."
She compared the sensation to the act of turning down the volume of a sound — only it's an emotion, like anger, that she is decreasing. The overall feeling is there but significantly diminished.
“Having these muted emotions gives me the advantage of not being emotionally reactive to things, but it also gives me the disadvantage of not being able to feel things and feeling like I’m missing out on something,” Vic explained.
She revealed which emotions she lacks entirely.
She explained that there are some emotions she can’t feel or even conceptualize at all, including empathy, love, regret, and anxiety. The concept of these emotions is “foreign” to her, and she struggles to understand what they truly mean.
“When I think about these emotions, I feel like my brain’s going through a blender,” she described. “It’s like telling you to think of a color that doesn’t exist — it’s impossible because you’ve never experienced that color.”
She added that while she does have an idea of what other people mean when they describe emotions like regret or anxiety, she’s never experienced them for herself, so she struggles to understand entirely.
Research supports Vic's claim that psychopaths can experience basic emotions like sadness, anger, and even fear. While they may not feel them to the extent that most people do, it doesn’t mean they don’t wish they could.
Vic even admitted that she sometimes feels jealous that she may never truly understand the complexity of human emotions.
The diagnosed psychopath shared how she induces the emotions she struggles to express.
In response to TikTokers expressing curiosity about what makes her cry, Vic shared another video elaborating on how she experiences sadness.
Vic explained that most traumatic or distressing events don’t typically induce sadness for her. For example, her grandpa recently passed away, and despite witnessing her family’s grief, the experience didn’t induce any sadness because she doesn’t experience empathy or love.
This lack of love, however, does induce sadness for Vic.
“One of the things that makes me the saddest in life is the fact that I’ve never loved anybody, I’ve never been in love, I don’t know if I’ll ever be in love,” she revealed. "I have a lot of trouble actually connecting with people, and I feel lonely all the time."
She shared that her favorite movie scene to watch when she needs to cry is the opening scene of "Up," because of the beautiful love story it depicts and how she resents the fact she may never know what such a thing feels like.
"Specifically when Ellie dies, how sad Carl is, that makes me really, really sad," she shared. "I wish that I could love somebody that much ... but I never have, and I don't know if I ever will."
While she's unlikely to cry out of sadness, she said that the act helps to reduce stress levels in her body, so she watches movies like "Up" to induce this feeling when struggling with stress.
Vic's self-awareness and portrayal of emotions are certainly fascinating and enlightening to the experience of psychopathy. At least we can all agree that the love story in "Up" is an incredibly moving one — even if you're a psychopath.
Francesca Duarte is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team based in Orlando, FL. She covers lifestyle, human-interest, adventure, and spirituality topics.