Halloween — America’s favorite time to celebrate heroes, villains and cartoon icons alike. As thousands of frat boys across the nation don their “American Psycho” Patrick Bateman costumes, it’s worth asking why some see the character as a role model.
On TikTok, #ASPD (Antisocial Personality Disorder) content has merged with the broader trends of self-diagnosis, alongside ADHD, autism and BPD. Like a pseudo-intellectual form of astrology, these labels have become a way to find belonging through shared dysfunction while at the same time absolving ourselves of our shortcomings. The self-diagnosis trend is not new. The ‘80s saw a surge in people recovering traumatic memories and labeling themselves as Type A and Type B. Both of these trends fell off quickly and both lost their utility outside of the contexts they originated in. But despite the recent TikTok-ification of the DSM-approved disorders, the existence of psychopathology and neurodevelopmental disorders is very real — and for many, diagnosis can offer genuine clarity and access to care.
In individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder, affective empathy sometimes overpowers cognitive empathy, leading to what some psychologists and neuroscientists see as the polar opposite of psychopathy. Whereas psychopathic brains are marked by inhibited brain regions, the brains of autistic people are thought by some to be “too interconnected.” Autistic people also often have an impaired “theory of mind” — the ability to understand the inner worlds and motivations of other people.
Psychopaths, on the other hand, often rely on a great deal of cognitive empathy — the ability to think through why someone might feel a certain way. In addition to this cognitive bend, those with ASPD exhibit traits such as manipulativeness, superficial charm and impulsivity. To an uninformed pop-psychology enthusiast, an autistic individual may appear psychopathic and vice versa. To the uninformed autistic individual, noticing their own impaired cognitive empathy can make them feel like an uncaring person, perpetuating feelings of shame about their very way of relating to the world around them.
French philosopher Michel Foucault once argued that the medicalization of behaviour is a modern form of control — a way to replace moral judgement with diagnostic language. Despite Foucault’s warning — perhaps in spite of it — the pendulum of power seems to have swung in the opposite direction. Pathology has turned into its own kind of moral currency, with medicalized “identity tags” being used to justify harmful or self-defeating behaviors. When we see ourselves and others through a lens of pathology, we risk turning psychology into theology.
In the case of psychopathy, reduced connections between certain brain regions are present. In the case of ADHD, DNA methylation — a mechanism for expressing genes — appears to be an issue. In the case of BPD, a high degree of genetic heritability is attributed. When we treat these real conditions as slang or casual descriptors, we risk relegating those with the actual, clinical-level conditions — often individuals with higher support needs — to suffer in silence. When we try to diagnose ourselves in order to justify our garden-variety eccentricities, we risk closing ourselves to personal growth.
In 2024, self-identified sociopath and licensed therapist Patric Gagne published “Sociopath” — a memoir that attempts to explain and humanize a diagnosis often treated as a shorthand for evil. Gagne insists that sociopathy isn’t a superpower but a “perilous condition.” In her mind, sociopathy is less about Machiavellian schemes and more about the absence of positive, socially-bonding emotions. Throughout the memoir, she describes her journey of learning to recognize and control her vindictive impulses. In an interesting twist, Gagne says that her ability to detach from her emotions actually makes her a better therapist.
A decade before Gagne’s memoir, neuroscientist James Fallon stumbled onto his own antisocial diagnosis while researching the brainscans of murderers. By virtue of including his own scan in the study, Fallon discovered that his brain activity was a perfect match to those of violent murderers. In his book, “The Psychopath Inside,” Fallon claims that protective factors such as a stable childhood and a high degree of self-awareness prevented him from becoming like his violent subjects. He concludes by saying that despite the findings of the scan, he does not see himself as a psychopath.
Maybe the question isn’t “are you a psychopath,” but “even if you are, what can you do about it?” The people self-aware enough to diagnose themselves — in one way or another — are already on the right path. Over the last 40 years, the field of psychology has developed many modalities and concepts to aid treatment — Dialectical Behavioural Therapy, Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Integrated Family Systems. In the hands of a competent therapist, even the most antisocial people can find their way to remission. But even without access to treatment, a person with antisocial tendencies can “fake it until they make it.” Traits such as conscientiousness have been shown to correlate negatively with antisocial behaviour. In other words, idle hands are the devil’s workshop — if you have a dark side, keep yourself busy.
People with ASPD are not cooler, smarter or even more evil than the rest of us. As Patric Gagne reminds us, sociopathy isn’t a mystical quality. It’s a perilous mental health condition that requires treatment. In all likelihood, you’re not Patrick Bateman. Podcaster and cultural critic Anna Khachiyan’s 2015 Tweet said it best — “Don’t flatter yourself, you’re not a sociopath. Just a garden-variety millennial narcissist.” The real sociopaths among us wouldn’t give a second thought to their actions. Instead of diagnosing ourselves into cages, we might try something far scarier — accepting our imperfect, human selves. Stepan Kopeykin is a transfer student from the Borough of Manhattan Community College. His favorite movies and books include Interstellar, The Big Lebowski, Choke and The Secret History. You can find him drinking three to four cups of tea a day and playing catch with the wall outside of Hillman. He runs a personal Substack page and can be reached at [email protected]