Arguing is never fun, but when you're doing it with a psychopath, it can be a very traumatic experience.
Sometimes, people just can't exit from an argument or debate with grace and dignity and get nasty. When you find yourself in such a situation, it will be difficult but the best thing to do is just walk away.
When you argue with a psychopath, there will be a few signs to look for that will let you know that it's a good time to just leave.
Do yourself a favor, keep an eye out for these 5 signs and save yourself from wasting your time and breath.
They Fake Understanding And Empathy
A psychopath can be a frustrating person to argue with because they'll pretend to personally know everything. They believe that their experiences in life give them the ability to understand the difficulties of other people.
This, despite never actually going through the same experiences. However, they are not truly compassionate or understanding, they're only pretending to be. You may be able to pick up on this insincerity. Pointing this out won't work, it will only cause frustration for you.
Their Emotions Are All Over The Place
This kind of person can go from logical and cold to emotional and chaotic in the blink of an eye. It can be quite a disconcerting experience to argue or debate with such a person.
Things can start perfectly normal, calm, and collected. You can have a reasonable and relaxed discussion but out of the blue, things get ugly.
Personal insults and emotional reactions can suddenly show up and the whole conversation can be turned upside down and become an uncomfortable and unsatisfying argument.
Consistency will be out the door - compassion and respect will transform into dark spite and ignorance. It could feel to you as if there is just no sense in talking to this person no matter how calm you remain.
Even if you're right, you won't be able to win an argument with someone who behaves this way.
They Are Smug and Act like They Know Everything
Because psychopaths tend to have other personality disorders as well, you may detect narcissism as well.
A person with a narcissistic personality disorder will believe himself (or herself) to be superior to everyone around him. This will show in the way they treat others, the way they speak, and the way they have arguments.
A narcissist isn't interested in learning anything new, they are stuck in their own narrow-minded belief that they're right and everyone else is wrong. They will do what they can to prove that they know better, even when they actually don't.
They Will Not Take Responsibility
Psychopaths do not like the taste of responsibility. They will do anything to avoid being responsible and owning up to their behavior.
Playing the victim is something that you will find this kind of person does. It is almost as if this behavior is wired into their thought processes.
If you point out a mistake or call them out on behaving wrong, you will be disappointed if you expected them to own up to it. This kind of person will just find a way to make it someone else's fault.
They Constantly Project Their Issues and Problems
You will notice that when arguing with a psychopath, they will find a way to project what they feel onto you.
If you're winning the argument or the person feels threatened, their reaction will be to pin their negative traits onto someone else, in this case, the one debating with them.
A psychopath who feels that he or she is being made out to be dumb, unreliable or angry, will try to make you seem to be just that.
They will take their bad traits and call you out on it, accusing you of exhibiting these characteristics.
This is a way to deflect attention but fortunately, most people can pick up on this cheap trick.
If you have noticed these signs while trying to debate with someone, the best thing you can do is retreat. You won't be 'losing' anything, just save yourself from frustration and unnecessary drama.
