Sociopath

To be honest, I went into this (I listened on audio) thinking I was going to get some sort of juicy, dark confessional. And at times, it was! But it was so much more than that. To be honest, it was a raw & real memoir of someone who I think I’d like a lot in real life. It made me think about how in the past I’ve thrown around the word sociopath (mostly as a negative, in regard to exes, etc.). This is Gagne’s memoir, starting from childhood (when she would sneak out of the house late at night, when she realized that she made people uncomfortable before even starting kindergarten) through adulthood. It is a story of trying to fit in and conform, a story of feeling nothing (and not liking that feeling very much). In childhood, she did anything she could to feel something. Stealing. Lying. Being occasionally violent; breaking into empty homes. Then, in college, she finally confirmed what she had long suspected: she was a sociopath. And then: trying to learn more about her diagnosis and realizing that sociopathy had been neglected by mental health professionals for decades. Working with a therapist, being told she couldn’t have a normal life. Being haunted by the sterotypical sociopaths of pop culture (always the villain). Finding romantic love and wanting to keep it. The book is utterly engrossing and so interesting; but also very hopeful. I really loved it. I definitely recommend listening to it as the author is a fantastic narrator.