Whilst on holiday recently I enjoyed a very funny, but at times quite disturbing book called ‘The Psychopath Test’ by Jon Ronson. Ronson has a very quirky, disarming style, a little bit Louis-Theroux-ish, but with a sharp edge.

In the book Ronson narrates his journey through the madness industry, finding how mental illness is literally catalogued into hundreds of different ‘disorders’ by the American Psychiatry Association. Past disorders have included homosexuality, but thankfully the textbook is revised every few years.

Every illness has a list of characteristics, and the psychopath has a 20 point checklist, which includes – among others – superficial charm, pathological lying, lack of remorse/guilt, shallow, lack of realistic long-term goals, failure to accept responsibility for own actions and grandiose sense of self-worth.

The psychopath can be extremely cunning how he can manipulate others and take them in, and he can use his wiles to climb to the top of his profession. There are many top-ranking business people who display psychopathic traits.

Politics too is another area where psychopathic tendencies can be seen. God forbid we should ever have a psychopath running the country….

Wendy.