This podcast is intended for mature audiences and could be triggering to some.

Please use discretion when listening.

Hey, it's Tiffany.

I wanted to give an extra trigger warning for today's episode because it deals with the abuse of animals.

I will be avoiding as much extra detail as possible. Please use

discretion when listening. Thank you so much. Psychotherapist Don Drucker has worked with a wide

spectrum of clients, including individuals of all age groups as well as individuals with

personality disorders. In an article she wrote for PETA, Don shared that she has

found that there is a correlation between individuals who harm or kill animals and sociopathic

behavior. Don writes, The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM, is published

by the American Psychiatric Association, and it is used as a tool

by mental health workers to diagnose clients' psychological problems based on their symptoms and

behavior. Diagnosing clients is necessary for the development of their treatment goals.

Unfortunately, there are limited diagnostic tools to confirm the link between cruelty to animals and sociopathic behavior.

But sociopathic behavior and the sociopathic personality type are indeed prevalent in our society.

For example, serial killers such as Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Richard Ramirez, as well as countless other serial killers, murderers,

and rapists, all abused animals as children, and that behavior escalated into harming humans.

The sociopathic personality first develops in early childhood or adolescence, and is classified

under the diagnosis of conduct disorder, which then develops into antisocial personality disorder.

One of the early signs of conduct disorder is often cruelty to animals.

An individual who is able to engage in cruelty to animals appears to have no conscience, and thus no remorse for his or her behavior. The act of cruelty to animals results

from an apparent need for power and control, and this need is accompanied by a lack of empathy.

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