Dealing with psychopaths can be quite confusing for the average person because they tend to live in an alternate reality where they use the double bind, doublemindedness, and doublethink as they apply to, and support, their debauchery and evil schemes. Note that they hold others to a dissimilar reality where everything is black and white. Let’s take a deeper look at psychopathic double bind, doublemindedness, and doublethink.
Double Bind
The Double Bind technique is a form of manipulation where the psychopath creates a situation where the victim is “damned if they do and damned if they don’t.” No matter which option is selected by the victim, it is wrong, and the victim is belittled or punished for choosing unwisely.
This gives the psychopath an “out.” They might say, “Well, I was going to do something nice for you, but you blew it.” It reinforces the idea that the victim’s thoughts, decision-making skills, and intuition are extremely in question or altogether faulty and cannot be trusted. Ergo only the decisions of the psychopath can be relied upon.
In the context of psychopathy, a psychopath might use this technique to manipulate someone by creating a situation where the victim feels trapped and unable to make a decision.
For example, a psychopathic parent might tell their child that they should always tell the truth, but when the child tells the truth about something the parent doesn’t want to hear, they might be punished or belittled for it. The child is then stuck in a situation where they are punished if they lie and punished if they tell the truth, leaving them feeling confused, helpless, and vulnerable to the manipulative tactics of the psychopath.
This technique works for the psychopath because it creates a sense of power and control over the victim. By trapping victims in a no-win situation, the psychopath can manipulate their thoughts and emotions, making them more susceptible to the psychopath’s influence.
Additionally, the double bind technique can create a sense of cognitive dissonance in the victim. When faced with conflicting messages or behaviors, the victim may start to doubt their own perceptions, memories, and feelings, leading them to rely more heavily on the psychopath for guidance and validation.
Overall, the double bind technique is a potent tool for any type of manipulation, and it can be very effective for psychopaths who want to maintain control over their victims.
Doublemindedness
A psychopath may use the technique of doublemindedness, “saying one thing but doing another,” combined with self-deception or doublethink to justify their actions and manipulate others. This technique involves the manipulator creating a facade of being honest and trustworthy while secretly engaging in behavior that is contrary to what they are saying.
Psychopaths seek to double their advantages and options in their wrongdoings with unbridled passion while exercising their free-willed ability to choose hypocritically without guilt or inconsistent conscious confusion. All the while expressing their superiority and flawlessness and donning the appearance of being earnest, supportive in truth, and integrity.
Psychopaths expect congruity and predictability from others but do not hold this expectation of themselves because they favor the technique of doublemindedness without responsibility for themselves only.
Self-deception is the framework where doublemindedness flourishes.
To practice doublemindedness, the psychopath may employ a variety of tactics, including:
Self-deception: The psychopath may convince themselves that they are doing the right thing and that their actions are justified, even if they know deep down that what they are doing is wrong or harmful.
Doublethink: The psychopath may hold two contradictory beliefs at the same time and use this cognitive dissonance to justify their actions. They may believe that they are honest and trustworthy, even as they engage in deceitful behavior.
Rationalization: The psychopath may justify his or her behavior by telling themselves that what they are doing is necessary or for the greater good, even if it contradicts what they are saying to others.
By using these tactics, psychopaths can create a sense of confusion and cognitive dissonance in their victims. The victim may be unsure of what to believe, leading them to rely more heavily on the psychopath for guidance and validation.
Additionally, psychopaths may use their facade of honesty and trustworthiness to deflect suspicion and criticism. They may deny any wrongdoing and use their charm and charisma to convince others that they are in the right.
Overall, the use of self-deception and doublethink in combination with the technique of saying one thing but doing another is a powerful tool for a psychopath. It can allow them to maintain control over their victims while avoiding detection and criticism.
Doublethink
Psychopaths may exhibit behaviors that include doublethink, believing in whatever suits them at the time, forgetting and remembering at will, and believing in total contradictions, this behavior in predatory psychopaths is usually included in the assumption that they may be, and likely are, pathological liars.
Psychopathy is characterized by a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others. Predatory psychopaths are masters of manipulative behavior. They often manipulate others to achieve their own goals or to gain a sense of power or control.
Psychopaths possess altered perceptions of reality which enables them to know and not know at will. They can convey any thought or idea cloaked in an appearance of truthfulness while spinning elaborate lies from any perspective that best asserts their manipulative tactics. Any contradiction is not apparent to the psychopath consciously as both are a reality for them, not others, and their reality is always in a constant state of flux. Therefore, they believe both extremes to be true simultaneously, and they can often pass lie detectors either way due to their doublethink.
To witness a psychopath spin elaborate tales, tearing apart logical trains of thought, disassembling and reassembling them with their self-superiority and more advanced logic is a sight to behold. In one moment they can hold tight to the highest concepts with integrity, only to tear them down to worthless ash in the next moment without any sense of dichotomy.
One might think that the psychopath may have a faulty memory as they change asserted beliefs and details at will. There is no memory problem here. This is just their skill of selecting data that serves their diabolical goals at any moment in time.