Sociopath: A Memoir

by Patric Gagne

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

A striking memoir detailing the author's journey to understanding herself and her mental disorder. With a dynamic and empathetic narrative voice that's impossible not to root for, this is the kind of memoir that will inspire not just in what the author did for herself, but in the light it sheds on sociopathy as a whole.

An engrossing, “completely fascinating” (Cosmopolitan) memoir revealing the author’s struggle to come to terms with her own sociopathy and shed light on the often maligned and misunderstood mental disorder.

Patric Gagne realized she made others uncomfortable before she started kindergarten. Something about her caused people to react in a way she didn’t understand. She suspected it was because she didn’t feel things the way other people did. Emotions like fear, guilt, and empathy eluded her. For the most part, she felt nothing. And she didn’t like the way that “nothing” felt.

In college, Patric finally confirmed what she’d long suspected. She was a sociopath. But even though it was the very first personality disorder identified—well over 200 years ago—sociopathy had been neglected by mental health professionals for decades. She was told there was no treatment, no hope for a normal life. But when Patric reconnects with an old flame, she gets a glimpse of a future beyond her diagnosis. If she’s capable of love, it must mean that she isn’t a like the madmen and evil villains in pop culture. With the help of her sweetheart (and some curious characters she meets along the way) she embarks on a mission to prove that the millions of Americans who share her diagnosis aren’t all monsters either.

This is the inspiring story of Patric’s journey to unlock the true nature of sociopathy and build a life of love and hope against all odds.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781668003190
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	04/08/2025
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	58,720
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.38(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Patric Gagne is a writer, former therapist, and advocate for people suffering from sociopathic, psychopathic, and anti-social personality disorders. She earned a PhD in clinical psychology with a dissertation that examined the relationship between sociopathy and anxiety. This research became the groundwork for her continued studies on sociopathic disorder, as well as the foundation for her memoir. She did her undergraduate work at UCLA and earned her masters and doctorate at the California Graduate Institute of The Chicago School.

Editorial Reviews

04/08/2024

“I am a twenty-first century sociopath,” former therapist Gagne asserts in the introduction to her bracing debut, “and I’ve written this book because I know I’m not alone.” She begins by recounting her childhood affinity for thievery and other early signs, including the excessive time she spent alone, that “something about me was off.” As Gagne grew older, stealing trinkets gave way to stealing cars and credit cards, and in college, her first therapist diagnosed her as a sociopath. Reading all the material she could get her hands on, Gagne learned that the condition (characterized by “a disinclination to empathize with others”) is widely misunderstood—and often misdiagnosed—and resolved to pursue a PhD in the subject to help others like herself. Meanwhile, she managed a bumpy relationship with her boyfriend (and eventual husband), David, one of the few people for whom she felt deep love. Gagne’s stated goal is demystification (“representation matters”), and she succeeds, legibly outlining the workings of her mind and the hopelessness she felt upon diagnosis. Courageously candid and sometimes shocking, this no-holds-barred self-portrait offers an illuminating glimpse at a mental health disorder long shrouded by shame. Agent: Melissa Flashman, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Holy moly, readers will be interested in this!” —David Marchese, New York Times Magazine

"Completely fascinating" —Cosmopolitan Magazine

"A cross between a podcast by relationship therapist Esther Perel and a salacious tell-all." —San Francisco Chronicle

From the Publisher

2023-12-26
The story of a therapist and grief counselor’s struggle to understand and mitigate a stigmatized disorder.

Since early childhood, Gagne writes, she knew she lacked the empathy, shame, guilt, and fear of consequences typically possessed by others. Her antisocial behavior frequently brought her into conflict with authority figures and confirmed her sense of difference and, sometimes, despair. In adulthood, after finally receiving a diagnosis of sociopathy, she sought ways to manage it, eventually becoming a psychologist specializing in the disorder. A crucial element in her success, she notes, is her relationship with an exceptionally understanding man who taught her how to love. This memoir is unusual in its presentation of a decidedly unlikable and rather frightening narrator, who describes a lifetime of bad behavior and ongoing struggles with deficits in kindness and common decency. Her seemingly sincere and plausible request, however, is for compassion to flow in the other direction: from the non-sociopathic toward the sociopathic, who are understood as suffering from a medical condition and whose humanity remains intact no matter their moral limitations. Gagne makes a reasonable case for such sympathy and for the possibility that sociopathy may, to some extent, be treatable. However, the narrative itself, which relies heavily on conventions from the romance and thriller genres, has a markedly fantastical quality, and what emerges often seems to favor vivid storytelling and self-aggrandizement over honest introspection. Descriptions of the author’s uncannily astute contributions to her field of study have a particularly dubious quality. A disclaimer informs readers that “some timelines have been condensed, some dialogue has been reconstructed, and some characters have been presented as composites,” which may put off some readers. Though the book is marketed as a memoir, it reads very much like a work of fiction.

A peculiar, provocative exploration of the limits of social acceptance.

Kirkus Reviews