What can I do? They moved in together. He cheated.

You always have to be careful while dating because you never know how “I was friends with benefits with a sociopath a few years ago.

Calli Tzani-Pepelasi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. It may sound like a scene straight out of a horror movie, but statistically you are not that unlikely to end up on a date with a psychopath. It is estimated that about 1 in people are psychopaths — similar to the number of people who are teachers.

So how do you know if you happen to be dating a psychopath and what should you expect? Despite this type of personality disorder being well established and researched, there is some controversy around exactly how it should be diagnosed. However, researchers do agree that psychopathy involves persistent antisocial behaviour , impaired empathy and remorse, boldness, emotional resiliency, meanness, impulsivity and extremely egotistical traits.

Psychopaths also have certain positive traits, however, such as paying attention to detail, being good at reading people and engaging in conversation with ease.