The peace in our family was disturbed when my middle sister called me one afternoon. Crying, she told me that a guy named Mark was about to get married. I only knew him as her suitor that she never entertained because he was already living with his original girlfriend. So, when I asked my sister, “So what?” I got the shock of my life as she said, “I might be pregnant with him.”
Just what did I hear?! My sister, who we trusted to know not to entertain such a man, was doing what we begged her not to do. Worse, their affair had been going on for four years straight already, and they had been trying to have a baby in the last six months. But she would never have bothered to tell us about it if the guy did not block her calls and texts and left her alone.
In reality, when I heard what happened for the first time, I got so mad at the guy that I wanted to curse him down to hell. My sister made it sound like she got cheated on, that she was not aware that he was a two-timing fool. Even my dad wanted to let loose and confront the guy with his fists for what he did to his daughter. However, my sister begged him not to do that. Instead, she said she wanted to get mental help because it left her thinking of ending her life.
Of course, when your child tells you something like that, you have no time to think things through – you just do it. I even went out to accompany my sister to the mental hospital where the only psychiatrist could be found in our state. Upon the initial diagnosis, it was revealed that she had dependence issues. I thought it made sense because she felt like she couldn’t live without that guy in her life.
But I started to get suspicious when my sister said she argued with the doctor and tried to reduce her resting period from two months to a month. Then, during her multiple trips to the psychiatrist’s office after that, she kept on asking the mental health professional to change her diagnosis from depression to mild anxiety to minor depression. It did not help that we caught her trying to chat up the same guy even after discovering that he already got hitched. I thought, “Hmm, that’s not normal anymore.”
The more I researched her symptoms, the more it became apparent that my sister might be a sociopath. Here are signs that led me to this hunch.
Ability To Change Emotions Based On What Others Want To See
The most noticeable thing about my sister was how quickly she could switch her emotions depending on who talked to her.
For example, when my father found the guy’s number still saved on her phone, he started berating her because of it for hours. The entire time, my sister was not answering him; she was merely looking down with a dark expression on her face. But when my aunt suddenly called through FaceTime, her face lit up and sounded so cheerful, as if nothing ever happened.
The same scenario took place several times throughout her stay at home, thus solidifying my hunch that my sister might be a sociopath.
Compulsive Lying
It took some time for us to realize that my sister was a compulsive liar. My parents primarily used to believe every word she said, thinking that she was dependable and wise. Despite that, we all found out about it when we confronted her about the text messages that we caught her exchanging with the guy.
With the phone in mom’s hands, she asked, “Have you been texting your ex?”
Feigning anger, my sister replied, “What the heck are you talking about? It’s over between us; he’s already married.”
“Liar! Your conversations are all here!” my mother said, showing the phone.
Although shocked, my sister still uttered, “He texted me first.”
And the list of lies went on until the guy contacted my parents himself and begged them to make my sister stop bothering him and his wife.
Inability To Listen To Reason
When crap finally hit the fan, all the texts came out. It showed how my sister resented my parents for forbidding her from seeing the man of her dreams. Then, they even had plans to move to Australia, where the guy’s wife could not reach them anymore.
When dad talked to the guy and learned that my sister was forcing herself on him, claiming that she would end her life if he didn’t contact her, she relayed it all to my sister. However, she didn’t seem ashamed at all. Her face merely hardened and said, “That’s not what he told me. He said he loved me and that we would have a family together.”
No matter how much we tried to make her see reason, my sister didn’t budge at all. Worse, she proceeded to email the guy behind our backs and blackmailed him with their private videos.
Final Thoughts
That was the last straw for my parents. They brought her to a psychiatrist in a different city to figure out what’s wrong with her. After some appointments, we found out that she indeed has sociopathic tendencies.
It would still take a while before we could say that my sister fully recovered, but we’re optimistic that she would eventually get there with support and guidance.
