What is sociopathy? How to discover sociopathy? Can sociopaths love?
My experience of watching sociopathy on TV:
I was already in the middle of my beauty rest when I heard my boyfriend laughing out loud beside me. Jay was never inconsiderate like that because he knew that I was tired from counseling people every day, so I turned to look at what he found funny. I saw him focused on his phone with a hand over his mouth, still trying to control his laughter.
“What’s got you giggling there, babe?” I asked.
“Big Ed.”
“Who is that?” I asked.
About Big Ed The Sociopath – The 90 Day Fiance Reality TV Show
“Well, it was this guy who stars in the reality TV show called 90-Day Fiancé. This is already his second rodeo on the show, but he still cannot keep his girl,” Jay explained.
“Is that what’s funny?”
“Oh, no,” he uttered, still laughing. “I was just watching his latest interview on the show, and this elderly woman put him in his place.”
How I genuinely Felt Watching The Show
Since my sleepiness was already gone, I asked my boyfriend to show me what he was talking about (we didn’t actually know we were watching something about sociopathy). True enough, it was an interview with the cast members of the 90-Day Fiancé. The title of the show was pretty self-explanatory. It chronicled the lives of men and women trying to find their soulmates in and out of the United States and get engaged with them within 90 days. From what I gathered in the first five minutes of watching, many of them have found success and were living together with their partners. Except for Big Ed, that is.
When the cast members asked Ed where her latest girlfriend was, he began to tear up as he mentioned that they broke up after a few months of dating. As a counselor, I was trained not to be judgmental, but I would know a fake cry once I saw one. That’s what Big Ed was doing, which made the show more interesting.
The scene then cuts to where the ex-girlfriend finally arrived. Again, sociopathic Big Ed got the fake waterworks going. However, it stopped when the ex showed real tears and talked about how he ghosted her just when she learned to love him, even if Ed rushed everything into their relationship. Then, she found out that he went to Las Vegas and partied and socialized with some prostitutes (all these can be signs of a sociopathy disorder, actually).
The Woman’s Revelations (Ed’s ex-girlfriend)
Though the woman’s revelations made potentially sociopathic Ed earn some boos and sassy remarks from the other cast members, that only took him back slightly. Soon enough, he was running his mouth again and giving every possible excuse under the sun. It was evident that his initial love for her was fake, but who would admit that? Not Big Ed, for sure.
With the several signs of sociopathy, we learn that Big Ed might be a sociopath.
The Show Just Got More Interesting – Witnessing Someone With Signs of Sociopathic Behaviors
“What kind of a man is this?” I asked my boyfriend about Ed.
“That’s a man who talks big but gets his mother to slather mayo all over him and whose feet would not even touch the floor during the interview,” he replied, chuckling. “Keep watching, babe; we have not even gotten to the funniest part yet.”
Before I could even ask what my boyfriend meant, I heard the host announce that one of the guys’ mothers would join the show. As it turned out, both the guy and his new girlfriend lived under the same roof as his mother. As soon as the mother sat down, Big Ed showed sociopathic behavior when heturned to the guy and began talking about how he should leave the nest and get a place of his own.
My boyfriend commented that it was a big talk coming from the “sociopathic” Big Ed, considering he was also living with his mother. The older woman did not pay attention to him initially, but when the potentially sociopathic Ed did not stop attacking her son, she yelled at him to shut up, shocking everyone. Soon, we will be learning about the signs of sociopathy through the show.
Reeling In – Learning The Signs of Sociopathy
What’s hilarious about that conversation I watched was that Big Ed barely acknowledged the older woman’s accusations against him (this is a significant sign of sociopaths). He merely kept talking about his opinion as to if that’s the only thing that mattered.
My mental health training taught me that Big Ed showed some signs of sociopathy. I could be wrong, I would need to meet and examine him further to make sure of that – but I noticed that he could be a sociopath, or that he displayed signs of sociopathy. After all, potentially sociopathic Ed was unapologetic and seemed to have manipulated his ex into doing what he wanted before leaving her once she’s hooked.
I am not sure if sociopaths will ever be tackled in-depth on that show in the future, but if you want to see what I am talking about, please feel free to watch 90-Day Fiancé one of these days. And with new media channels cropping up every day, sociopathy and online influencers could be a real problem too.