Dealing with a sociopath family member can be very difficult. It calls for a lot of planning, strategic execution of the plan and concerted efforts to adhere to the plans or strategies that are already in place. Before you can start working on how to deal with a sociopath family member, you need to understand what a sociopath is, you have to assess your relationship with that person, weigh the pros and cons of each plan and all your actions and only then you can form a successful strategy.
Understand The Sociopath
At the very onset, you need to understand the sociopath. You don’t have to be empathetic, you don’t have to feel strongly for the sociopath or be accountable for the person. You simply have to understand what you are dealing with.
A sociopath is a person who stands against everything that is considered right or morally correct in a society. This is not a technical definition but what a sociopath is in a broader sense. There are various types of sociopaths and delving into such details would have to be specific to every case. Sociopaths, in general, have no regard for morality, righteousness, empathy, relationships or society as a whole. They would say and do things that normal people living in a society will not. They will act and react in manners that are not within the ambit of what is defined as civil or acceptable.
The reason why you need to understand the sociopath family member is to instill the strength in you to take some hard measures. Not all ways of dealing with a sociopath family member are easy. Many are an uphill task and such daunting challenges will need a lot of conviction in your mind.
Seek Professional Help
Sociopaths are more common than you think. Even families don’t realize that they have a sociopath amongst them until something serious happens and they are shocked, then compelled to accept the reality. No matter what situation you are in, if you have doubts or are certain that you have a sociopath family member, you must seek professional help. Most families don’t seek any professional help at all. You will find a lot of information here and online but professional help is personalized, after diagnosing and assessing all aspects of a specific scenario, which is unparallel.
Measures You Should Take
The very first step of dealing with a sociopath family member is to accept the reality and to develop a strong sense of conviction that you would be doing everything possible to keep the rest of your family and yourself safe from the pries of the sociopath. You must remember that the sociopath thinks of no one and doesn’t want to bring any good to anyone. All they would think of is what they can do, for their own selfish ends and to do that they would do everything possible, from theft to abuse, physical assaults to outright exploitation.
Once you have ascertained that you are willing to take the necessary steps to deal with the sociopath family member, you must isolate that person. Either you can isolate that person or you can isolate the entire family. In some cases, isolation is not an option, especially if the sociopath is completely dependent on the family, in all ways. In such cases, seeking professional help and thus a place where the sociopath family member can be looked after will be better. You need to realize at this stage that even if you feel empathy for the sociopath family member, he or she won’t and there is no way you will have any positive returns if you don’t isolate the person or shield your family.
Setting boundaries or rules of dealing with a sociopath family member is the next step. For instance, you may decide to sever all ties with the person, keep no contact whatsoever or keep some erratic contact once in a blue moon, you may choose to not give out any information about your whereabouts or your life in general to that person, you should make it clear that the person is either not welcome or you have nothing to do with the person. If you are unable to speak to make these things clear, you should let your actions do the talking. More importantly, you should talk as less as you can. The more you talk, the more weaknesses you would expose to the sociopath family member for him or her to explore and exploit.
You should not try to reform the person while dealing with a sociopath family member. You are not trained to reform such personalities and thus you should not even try. Even if you observe momentary or minor improvements, they may just be a decoy or the person’s feigning to make room for further abuse.