Can a child be a psychopath?

Most parents are afraid of the prospect of raising a child-psycho. Just imagine that a 12-year-old boy can be a heartless manipulator, who tortures animals with special zeal. At the same time he does not feel remorse at all and always knows how to escape punishment. He can pretend to be sick, cry bitterly or swear that it was "the last time." But these are just tricks in his sophisticated game. This seems to us a child-psycho. How are things really in fact? Are there any children with psychopathic inclinations?

Characteristic features of psychopaths

Psychopaths are determined by certain personality characteristics. There is no doubt that all these characteristics can also occur in children. We are talking about a bloated sense of self-worth, manipulation, lack of empathy, impulsive behavior, superficial charm, inability to take responsibility for one's actions. Psychopaths are not able to experience deep emotions and can not feel remorse or guilt for what they have done.

When should I worry?

Doctors warn that only a combination of several of the above features can determine a psychopathic personality. Therefore, parents should not be alarmed by the manifestation of only one of the inclinations. At different moments in the formation of the personality, an inflated sense of self-worth or inability to take responsibility for one's actions can also occur in children with normal mental health. According to experts, psychopathic traits persist throughout the life of a person, developing as early as childhood. Most of them will be noticeable even before the teenager attains the 16th anniversary.

Features of teenage psychopathy

In adolescence, children actively experiment with forbidden things and seek self-expression. Therefore, the psychopathic signs of a 15-year-old boy will differ from those of a mature psychopath. Parents should be alarmed if they discovered the destructive behavior of their daughter or son. It is about the use of substances stimulating the nervous system (drugs, alcohol, tobacco, energy drinks). Also, a future psychopath may be more responsive to reward, but not take punishment. It is more likely that such a teenager is aggressively attuned to the society or takes part in antisocial activities. These children are intolerant of peers with deviant or abnormal behavior. Thus, future psychopaths actively take part in fights, brawls, acts of vandalism and mass pogroms.

How to diagnose?

For these features should be observed by professionals. If the three or more symptoms are consistently maintained from the control list, the adolescent may be diagnosed accordingly. It should be noted that for a professional diagnosis takes a certain amount of time. You can not draw the right conclusions, based on the behavior of the child in one or more situations. The verdict is carried out by professionals monitoring patients in clinical settings. These specialists (usually psychiatrists) have a corresponding specialization. You can not leave existing problems without attention, because psychopaths not only damage society, but in the overwhelming majority of cases have a nondescript prospect of being in correctional institutions.

How to behave with a child with psychotic tendencies?

If a child shows psychotic tendencies, hopes for a bright future are not lost. If the treatment of adult psychopaths was found to be practically inconclusive, then the young apostates have a chance of healing. A relatively new method of therapy is decompression treatment, which showed positive results. Parents need to prepare for the presence of other mental abnormalities in the child, as well as violent protests and unwillingness to undergo treatment. But, in fact, doctors do not interfere with the nervous system of the young patient, they pay great attention to the prevention of antisocial behavior, and also carry out explanatory or family therapy.