Do Sociopaths Cry?

Do sociopaths cry? Of course they do! It's part of their arsenal of weapons to trick, deceive and manipulate others.

Remember that one of the defining characteristics of sociopaths is that they do not have the hardware to experience emotions in the way that normal, feeling humans do. They don’t experience love, grief, shame, guilt, embarrassment. They don't have a conscience. That's what makes them sociopaths.

Some people suggest that sociopaths may have very superficial emotions, or that their emotions are fleeting, that they don't last very long at all. Tears as a result of crying are typically the result of very strong or profound emotions, at both ends of the spectrum (whether sadness or grief or joy or love). Sociopaths do not experience such things. This would suggest that crying is not natural for them.

Can sociopaths cry?

Of course they can. They do have the actual hardware to produce tears. As with other humans, their lacrimal glands produce fluid, the ducts deliver the liquid into the space between the eyeball and the eyelids and the excess fluid will overflow and run down the cheeks.

Fluid is produced in the eye for three reasons, the first is the continuous production to keep the surface of the eye moist and protected, the second is in response to strong irritants and the third is the result of emotions. The first two mechanisms are intact in the sociopaths, unless, of course, they have specific eye problems.

Do sociopaths cry?

An important thing to keep in mind here is the effect that tears have on people. We are social creatures and to a large extent we are hardwired to look after each other. When we see tears we recognize that a fellow human is distressed in some way and we have an impulse to help or assist.

Sociopaths are professional manipulators. They know what they are doing. They understand a lot about human nature and our drives and motivations. Many of them actively study our behavior patterns in order to better manipulate and control. They also know what the effects of tears are.

If you read some of what they write about themselves when asked 'do sociopaths cry?', they will explain how they use tears to elicit sympathy from those around them in order to get what they want. They recognize that humans don't like to see others cry and they will often intervene to 'fix' the situation. Or at a minimum, tears will create a shift in emotions in others and this change is used by the sociopaths as a stepping stone to steer their target in a different direction. They are very clear about what they are doing!

A few of them explain that they may cry for themselves if they have lost someone or something(!) but there is little emotion to it and they can choose not to cry in the moment if they don't want to (for example, when it may be seen as a sign of weakness).

Why do sociopaths cry? To manipulate...

Many victims of sociopaths in families are often confused by a particular situation. That situation is where they see the sociopath cry, or tear up, on various occasions, often when they are being criticized or challenged or when they are not getting their own way. However, at times of major events, such as a death in the family, the sociopath does not shed a single tear.

In order to explain this the victim thinks that the sociopath has difficulty expressing emotions or that they are grieving 'in their own way'. When the victim realizes that they are dealing with a sociopath and learns about mind control they realize the real reason. The sociopath does not cry at weddings because they are not experiencing grief. The times they do cry is purely to trick and manipulate those around them. They are playing the role of victim in order to elicit pity and take center stage or otherwise take control of the situation.

Another example is that of a cult leader who is leading a personal development cult. She spends quite a bit of time crying and seemingly upset. To outsiders this does not make sense. This woman is supposed to be a successful teacher and mentor who has been 'working on improving herself' for years. She tells her students what choices and decisions they should be making to have a happy, easy, carefree life but she herself is frequently in tears. How come a supposed expert in life is crying so often?

We have to look at the result of the tears for an explanation. First of all, the cult members believe this is a very sensitive, passionate, emotional woman. Secondly, the members believe that this woman really cares about others and is worried about their welfare. The tears build and reinforce those beliefs very strongly.

And now the leader can abuse, criticize, disparage, belittle, insult and generally take advantage of the members as much as she likes, all under the guise of "I am doing this for your benefit and I care about you so much I am moved to tears!"

How do sociopaths cry?

If you search on the internet you will find lots of suggestions about how to produce tears and act as if you are crying, An interesting idea is that if you can get your eyes to well up but no tears actually flow down your cheeks, this is often a more powerful convincer that you are upset because it seems like you are really working hard to hold the tears back. Just rubbing your eyes hard can cause them to 'tear up' in this way.

Another thing to note with the sociopaths is that the crying can start and stop just as instantly as the temper. They can be crying one moment and as soon as they get the desired result they can turn around and act as if they were not upset at all.

So the answer to the question 'do sociopaths cry?' is a resounding yes. Many sociopaths even say that they know when others are faking it and it angers them to see someone doing a bad job!

More information

Read more about mind control, how to spot a sociopath, dealing with sociopathic friends, characteristics of cult leaders and why it's hard to spot abusive situations.

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