Sociopath: A Memoir
Author: Patric Gagne
ISBN: 978-1-6680-0318-3
APA Style Citation
Gagne, P. (2024). Sociopath: A Memoir. Simon and Schuster, N.Y, New York.
Buy this Book:
https://www.amazon.com/Sociopath-Memoir-Ph-D-Patric-Gagne/dp/166800318X
Author: Patric Gagne
ISBN: 978-1-6680-0318-3
APA Style Citation
Gagne, P. (2024). Sociopath: A Memoir. Simon and Schuster, N.Y, New York.
Buy this Book:
https://www.amazon.com/Sociopath-Memoir-Ph-D-Patric-Gagne/dp/166800318X
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Book Description
Patric Gagne realized from an early age that she did not experience feelings the way that other children her age did. She saw her sister respond emotionally to many events, while Patric just could not force herself to feel the same emotions or react the same way as others around her. Even when her pet ferret Baby died, who she loved more than anything else in the world, Patric did not cry uncontrollably like her sister. She describes feeling detached from her emotions, separated from them. While she did not experience feeling sadness like others, she could feel anger and would seek revenge when someone did something she felt was not just. She locked some of her classmates in a school bathroom, flushed a pair of her mother’s beloved earrings down the toilet, and felt no remorse for having done these things. She would act “normal” by masking or trying to express emotions that others have to fit in or to have other accepts her, but when she was still not accepted, she would often act out. Her parents divorced when she was young, and her mother also knew that Patric was not like other children. Patric showed no fear, she would leave sleepovers in the middle of the night and walk home with no concern that she was a middle school girl out in the middle of the night. She could not understand why her mother or others were so concerned with her safety. As she got older, she began breaking into vacant homes, partly for the thrill and partly because she loved the silence. She was totally unconcerned about being caught in the act and would repeatedly break into the same home.
Patric did eventually connect with a boy named David, who she would stay in touch with and eventually have a long-term relationship with. He seemed to understand her emotional distance and was able to understand that this was not a reflection of her feelings for him. In college, Patric had a series of superficial relationships and often manipulated men and then went for joy rides in their cars “temporarily stealing” their vehicles. She knew she needed help and eventually saw a therapist who helped Patric understand the difference between sociopaths, psychopaths, and antisocial personality disorder, which is how Patric came to identify herself as a sociopath.
In order to reign in her urges but try to experience emotions, she started to attend random funerals. By this time, she was living in California near her father, who was in the music business, and she was working as a nanny while still attending college. Her dad pitched her the idea of joining him in his business, becoming a music manager, and she thrived in this cutthroat business. Unfortunately, when Patric revealed her diagnosis to people she considered her friends, they sometimes tried to convince her to engage in immoral acts like breaking into a significant others house to see if they were cheating, or assuming that Patric would have no problem getting involved with someone who was in a relationship. While Patric was trying to manage her sociopathic tendencies in a positive way, those around her were taking advantage of her. Patric still occasionally broke into vacant homes, but she confessed to David, her now boyfriend, about it, and he tried to understand. When a woman began to try to extort money from Patric’s father, Patric began stalking the woman at her home.
She and David went through a breakup and Patric eventually became a therapist to those experiencing the same issues she had gone through. Cognitive behavioral therapy helped Patric, but it took hard work and a real desire to change long-practiced habits. She was instantly successful because she could relate to her clients’ struggles and provide realistic strategies to help them navigate their lack of feelings, as well as more positive strategies to “feel” something. She wrote a book, she and David got back together, and through therapy came to understand one another better. They now have two children and while Patric might not experience the same outward expressions of love as other mothers, she is fiercely protective of her two children. Her husband has learned to navigate her sociopathy as just another part of who she is.
Other Related Resources
Business Insider: Patric Gagne describing Sociopathy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTWNnmymMc4
Psychology Today: Interview with Patricia Gagne
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-author-speaks/202404/sociopath-a-memoir?scrlybrkr
Psychological Figures and Concepts
Antisocial personality disorder
Behavioral therapy
Borderline personality disorder
Cognitive behavioral therapy
DSM
Narcissism
Obsessive compulsive disorder
Psychopath
Psychopathy checklist
Rational emotive behavioral therapy
Schizophrenia
Sociopath
Subconscious
Patric Gagne realized from an early age that she did not experience feelings the way that other children her age did. She saw her sister respond emotionally to many events, while Patric just could not force herself to feel the same emotions or react the same way as others around her. Even when her pet ferret Baby died, who she loved more than anything else in the world, Patric did not cry uncontrollably like her sister. She describes feeling detached from her emotions, separated from them. While she did not experience feeling sadness like others, she could feel anger and would seek revenge when someone did something she felt was not just. She locked some of her classmates in a school bathroom, flushed a pair of her mother’s beloved earrings down the toilet, and felt no remorse for having done these things. She would act “normal” by masking or trying to express emotions that others have to fit in or to have other accepts her, but when she was still not accepted, she would often act out. Her parents divorced when she was young, and her mother also knew that Patric was not like other children. Patric showed no fear, she would leave sleepovers in the middle of the night and walk home with no concern that she was a middle school girl out in the middle of the night. She could not understand why her mother or others were so concerned with her safety. As she got older, she began breaking into vacant homes, partly for the thrill and partly because she loved the silence. She was totally unconcerned about being caught in the act and would repeatedly break into the same home.
Patric did eventually connect with a boy named David, who she would stay in touch with and eventually have a long-term relationship with. He seemed to understand her emotional distance and was able to understand that this was not a reflection of her feelings for him. In college, Patric had a series of superficial relationships and often manipulated men and then went for joy rides in their cars “temporarily stealing” their vehicles. She knew she needed help and eventually saw a therapist who helped Patric understand the difference between sociopaths, psychopaths, and antisocial personality disorder, which is how Patric came to identify herself as a sociopath.
In order to reign in her urges but try to experience emotions, she started to attend random funerals. By this time, she was living in California near her father, who was in the music business, and she was working as a nanny while still attending college. Her dad pitched her the idea of joining him in his business, becoming a music manager, and she thrived in this cutthroat business. Unfortunately, when Patric revealed her diagnosis to people she considered her friends, they sometimes tried to convince her to engage in immoral acts like breaking into a significant others house to see if they were cheating, or assuming that Patric would have no problem getting involved with someone who was in a relationship. While Patric was trying to manage her sociopathic tendencies in a positive way, those around her were taking advantage of her. Patric still occasionally broke into vacant homes, but she confessed to David, her now boyfriend, about it, and he tried to understand. When a woman began to try to extort money from Patric’s father, Patric began stalking the woman at her home.
She and David went through a breakup and Patric eventually became a therapist to those experiencing the same issues she had gone through. Cognitive behavioral therapy helped Patric, but it took hard work and a real desire to change long-practiced habits. She was instantly successful because she could relate to her clients’ struggles and provide realistic strategies to help them navigate their lack of feelings, as well as more positive strategies to “feel” something. She wrote a book, she and David got back together, and through therapy came to understand one another better. They now have two children and while Patric might not experience the same outward expressions of love as other mothers, she is fiercely protective of her two children. Her husband has learned to navigate her sociopathy as just another part of who she is.
Other Related Resources
Business Insider: Patric Gagne describing Sociopathy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTWNnmymMc4
Psychology Today: Interview with Patricia Gagne
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-author-speaks/202404/sociopath-a-memoir?scrlybrkr
Psychological Figures and Concepts
Antisocial personality disorder
Behavioral therapy
Borderline personality disorder
Cognitive behavioral therapy
DSM
Narcissism
Obsessive compulsive disorder
Psychopath
Psychopathy checklist
Rational emotive behavioral therapy
Schizophrenia
Sociopath
Subconscious
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