Claudia Moscovici 
Unreliability
Obviously, if psychopaths were unreliable from the start, they wouldn’t ensnare so many victims. Few women, for instance, would continue to date a man who stood them up on the first five dates. Unfortunately for their targets, however, at the beginning of a relationship psychopaths work very hard to present themselves as trustworthy individuals. All of their energy flows into offering a false front. Mark Hacking acted like a devoted husband, who was, by all accounts, madly in love with his wife. Carolyn Eisen, a mutual friend, describes Neil Entwistle in equally glowing terms. She recounts, “I would see him, like, opening the door for her. And he was very polite. I think he always called when he said he would call her. You know, the things that you’re hoping to find when you’re meeting a new guy. And he adored her.” It’s very rare, however, for a psychopath to hide his real nature so well that he doesn’t wave any red flags under anybody’s nose. Cleckley notes, “Though the psychopath is likely to give an early impression of being a thoroughly reliable person, it will soon be found that on many occasions he shows no sense of responsibility whatsoever. No matter how binding the obligation, how urgent the circumstances, or how important the matter, this holds true” (340). Neil Entwistle’s behavior offers a perfect case in point. Neil may have opened the door for Rachel and called her when he said he would, at least in the beginning of their relationship. But when it really counted, once they married and started a family together, he wasn’t there for his wife in any meaningful sense. When she moved to the United States, he hooked up with other women in England on adult websites. When they were supposed to establish a happy family life together with their newborn daughter in Boston, he killed them both. Unfortunately, it’s very difficult to predict in advance when a psychopath’s mask of sanity will crack open: which is to say, when he’ll explode in a spectacular display of malice and unreliability that can cost you your happiness and perhaps even your life.
Psychopaths function like ticking time bombs. It’s likely that they’ll eventually explode to show their true, deviant nature. But it’s impossible to predict when, why and how. In fact, even psychopaths’ violent displays of anger are largely unmotivated. They’re only loosely related (if at all) to objective negative circumstances or to the actions of others. Just as crises or distress that would make a normal person feel depressed or anxious don’t rattle a psychopath, neither do periods of prosperity and well-being lead him to feel more stable and fulfilled. A psychopath’s outbursts, Cleckley notes, “seem to have little or no relation to objective stress, to cyclic periods, or to major alterations of mood or outlook. What is at stake for the patient, for his family, or for anybody else is not a regularly determining factor. At the crest of success in his work he may forge a small check, indulge in petty thievery, or simply not come to the office. After a period of gracious and apparently happy relations with his family he may pick a quarrel with his wife, rough her up a bit, drive her from the house, and then throw a glass of iced tea in the face of his 3-year-old son” (342). Cleckley characterizes the psychopath’s behavior as “not even a consistency in inconsistency but an inconsistency in inconsistency” (342). You can’t predict or react to a psychopath’s behavior as you would to that of a normal human being. He’ll remain motivated by his underlying desires and seek their gratification when, where, how and with whomever he pleases. And, if you’re close to him, you can bet that it will be at your expense.
Dangerous Liaisons/Legături Periculoase, Editura Vremea, http://www.edituravremea.ro/leg–turi-periculoase–cum-s–recuno–ti-un-psihopat–i-s–scapi-din-mrejele-lui
