So I live next to this guy whose lies make my old lying self look awesome in comparison…He’s in prison for murder, thats true. The rest is Horse Shit served warm. Truth is i should feel for him. But i just can’t bring myself to do it. He’s angry as hell. And crazy to.
So it’s like a college course on Sociopathic behavior. Or looking into a mirror, that once showed me. And my personality. It’s sureal. I mean the violent attitudes. The dominate behavior. The con games. You name it. It is all the old old me. Crazy shit!
–Brent Brents 2-24-15
Tag Archives: sociopath
like a college course on sociopathic behavior
Filed under Brents' writings
If i were a Psychopath
Alot of you would say I’m a Psychopath. Honestly I was close. But even in 04 and 05 I had regrets about what i was doing. Yes I did relish the emotional hell I caused people. But I always did feel regrets. I still do. So I think it’s 50/50 that a sociopath can change. As for myself, I think, I know I’ve changed alot. Don’t get me wrong. There is still those moments when all the anger and rage return and I think fuck it all. It’s easy to fall back into sociopathic thinking and behavior. I know love and empathy. I’m very capable of expressing both genuinely. If i were a Psychopath I wouldn’t be capable of either. Nor would I be enterested in either.
-Brent Brents 11-2-14
Filed under Brents' writings
Can a sociopath change?
Ok so Can a sociopath change? I think yes. But Not completely. We are capable of remorse even empathy. But It really takes being stripped of ones inadaqusies and bitterness. Rage and hatred.
Unlike psychopaths, Sociopaths have morals and rules they follow. Me I consider friendships sacred. And I would do any thing for my true friends. I don’t think most Sociopaths love themselves very much. So friendships are important means of finding and supplying themselves with love.
Ultimately we have to learn to love ourselves. Face the uncomfortable things we often bring upon ourselves. And face the violence we’ve committed upon others. A psychopath relishes the violence and pain they cause. As Sociopaths we might be assholes. But sooner or later we experience change.
-Brent Brents 11-2-14
Filed under Brents' writings
a sociopath is not something that can be treated nor cured
Note from Amy:
A reader from Alberta named Holly wrote to this Diary of a Predator website earlier this month and said this in part about Brent Brents:
“Even if he is diagnosed a sociopath then why wasn’t he helped. Why is the word sociopath considered a moral weakness – yet people who are depressed or bi-polar are treated like porcelain?”
Which prompted this response, sent anonymously on 7/25:
I believe if Holly was to do a little further research on mental disorders, she would come to conclude that being a sociopath is not something that can be treated nor cured.
Filed under The story
Reader: “Sociopath” should not be used as a moral weakness
A reader from Edmonton, Alberta sent the following comment to this Diary of a Predator website:
Firstly, Amy I would like to commend you on your work. I saw the story on Investigative Discovery. I hope that you can pass onto Brent Brents that I do not believe he is a monster.
I do think believe mental health issues need to be addressed more than anything. The word “Sociopath” should not be used as a moral weakness. It should be seen as an opportunity to help a person. It IS a sickness – just like cancer.
I suffer with Borderline personality disorder. One of the most difficult disorders to diagnose.
Just to add I am not a doctor by any means but I can bet Brent Brents’ being diagnosed as a sociopath may actually be an inaccurate diagnosis. Even if he is diagnosed a sociopath then why wasn’t he helped. Why is the word sociopath considered a moral weakness – yet people who are depressed or bi-polar are treated like porcelain?
Just my thoughts. -Holly
Time: July 2, 2013 at 1:04 pm
little tortured boys don’t just disappear
Note from Amy: I got a very thoughtful email last year from a woman who is working on her master’s in counseling psychology. She had seen me on the Paula Zahn show on Investigation Discovery about the Brent Brents’ case, and wrote to offer her support of my work.
Now she’s doing some work of her own, through an excellent blog called The Feminist Rag–and I offer praise of it not just because she recently wrote a very nice blog about my work on Brents, but because she has insightful and interesting things to say. I began reading James Gilligan’s book Violence on her recommendation, and have learned so much from it. That book articulates so well the underlying causes of violence in our culture and why conventional solutions have failed to stem its tide.
Since the author of The Feminist Rag doesn’t give her name on her website, I won’t reveal it here. Below is an excerpt of what she wrote about her reactions to Diary of a Predator: A Memoir, in addition to some very kind things about my ongoing work which were gratifying to hear.
From The Feminist Rag:
Reading Amy’s book is not for the light-hearted; it took me on an INTENSE emotional roller coaster that had me wrestling with all kinds of conflicting feelings like disgust, terror, empathy and despair as I learned of Brent’s childhood, which was filled with unspeakable child abuse which, unsurprisingly and all too commonly, resulted in a full blown sadistic, out of control, violent, sociopathic man.
Alongside my disgust, despair, and terror, I also found myself feeling empathy for Brent because little tortured boys don’t just disappear, they slowly morph into violent adult men. This is not to say that ALL abused boys turn into sadistic men, but some do, it’s simply how life works — everyone copes differently with the inner hell such a childhood creates. Read more
Filed under The story
me at 15
Having been a sociopath from a very early age and “in the system” i learned to piss people off. Especially those who were assigned as counselors….I was especially good at being sarcastic. I was also very predatory. So i watched for weakness…I was and probably still could be good at provoking anger, humiliation or embarrassment. I had an obese female counselor who i ragged on constantly about her sweat pits and fat rolls in her neck. I could make her cry. Before all was said and done i had humiliated her so badly i was able to manipulate her for sexual favors and illegal activities. That was me at 15. An asshole.
Brent Brents 8-5-11
Filed under Brents' writings
Was His Father Also Abused?
After I asked the question, Is Being a Sociopath a Choice? in the previous blog, I received the following question to this website about serial rapist Brent Brents:
Do you know his father’s history? Was he also a victim of abuse? It’s an interesting subject. I once heard that a majority of hard core criminals had fetal alcohol poisoning.
–Connie
The answer: I have a limited amount of information regarding Brent Brent’s father’s history. According to Brent, his father told him once that he had been sexually as well as physically abused as a child.
Brent’s half sister, Shelley, who was removed from the home after her father (the same man, a different marriage) abused her and her younger brother, David, says she gathered family history from two aunts who told her that severe abuse on her father’s side had begun generations before.
I’m inclined to believe he was abused, and that it contributed to his taking out his rage upon his children. If you know anything about patterns, you know they often repeat themselves. A sad legacy.
Filed under The story
Is Being a Sociopath a Choice?
Someone recently said this about my book, Diary of a Predator: A Memoir, which is about my experience covering the case of serial rapist Brent Brents:
“Yes, he had a troubled childhood, however so many others do and don’t become a sociopath.”
That line started me thinking: Does someone choose to become a sociopath? I started looking up research, which points to three factors that contribute to someone being a sociopath:
1. Genetics. Where Brents is concerned, that’s a check. Records and accounts from family members indicate that Brents’ father was a violent, sadistic man. The two children from his second marriage were removed from the home because of his abuse, and Brents and his brother, the product of his father’s third marriage, were removed from the home but records show Brents was returned for unknown reasons.
2. Brain abnormality, either caused from genetics or brain injury. Check. When he was 12, Brents suffered a left orbital blowout fracture (his left eye socket was crushed) and he had seizures ever since. Research indicates that a sociopath’s brain is different from a normal brain–that it has little activity in the orbital cortex, the area of the brain that controls behavior.
3. Child abuse. Check. Brents’ severe, systematic abuse at the hands of his father is documented in medical records.
I’m not saying these factors are an excuse for the violence Brents upon others. He still ultimately made choices. But perhaps it could explain why someone like Brents demonstrated such violence and a lack of empathy–because his brain was predisposed toward it, lacked the ability to recognize the consequences of it on others and the abuse inflicted upon him was his model.
Diary of a Predator 