Sociopath: A Memoir

Patric Gagne is the author of Sociopath. As its title suggests, the memoir centers on Gagne’s experience of sociopathy and how the disorder has shaped her identity. The narrative combines the author’s personal experience with her professional perspective as a former therapist with a PhD in clinical psychology. Reflecting deeply on her diagnosis of sociopathy and its implications, she seeks to broaden the public’s understanding of the disorder. 

The narrative of Sociopath is driven by the author’s quest to understand herself and her condition. Gagne’s narration is frank, often depicting herself in a way that she knows makes her unlikeable to non-sociopaths. For example, she describes her exhilaration and lack of remorse as a child when stabbing another girl with a pencil and almost strangling a cat. At the same time, Gagne invites readers’ empathy by conveying the challenges of having sociopathy and her attraction to The Pursuit of Normalcy and Assimilation. She recounts how recognizing that she was different from others shaped her formative years and self-perception. Without an inherent moral compass, she is in “a constant state of doubt” (18) about ethical boundaries.