The Psychopath Test

A Journey Through the Madness Industry

By: Jon Ronson

Narrated by: Jon Ronson

Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

In this madcap journey, a bestselling journalist investigates psychopaths and the industry of doctors, scientists, and everyone else who studies them.

The Psychopath Test is a fascinating journey through the minds of madness. Jon Ronson's exploration of a potential hoax being played on the world's top neurologists takes him, unexpectedly, into the heart of the madness industry. An influential psychologist who is convinced that many important CEOs and politicians are, in fact, psychopaths teaches Ronson how to spot these high-flying individuals by looking out for little telltale verbal and nonverbal clues. And so Ronson, armed with his new psychopath-spotting abilities, enters the corridors of power. He spends time with a death-squad leader institutionalized for mortgage fraud in Coxsackie, New York; a legendary CEO whose psychopathy has been speculated about in the press; and a patient in an asylum for the criminally insane who insists he's sane and certainly not a psychopath.

Ronson not only solves the mystery of the hoax but also discovers, disturbingly, that sometimes the personalities at the helm of the madness industry are, with their drives and obsessions, as mad in their own way as those they study. And that relatively ordinary people are, more and more, defined by their maddest edges.

©2011 Jon Ronson (P)2011 Macmillan Digital Audio

Interesting

Interesting, entertaining, disturbing. Definite problems with the mental wellness industry and how biases can lead to incorrect diagnoses. Ronson suggests we may be seeing a label not a person when it comes to psychopaths and may jump to conclusions.
I'm reminded strongly of "The Sociopath Next Door" (recommended): there are people who legitimately have no empathy, and are highly dangerous.

Good read

Overall really enjoyed this. I don’t read as often as i should or have in the past so I’ll say it’s significant that i finished this. My background As a social worker likely made it more interesting than the other reviewer who was bored, but I’m used to the tedious language of the field and appreciated the accessible and interesting nature of the stories and appreciated the deviation from the norm of the one sharing information taking the role of “blank slate” fallacy. The author is human and honest. Nothing is perfect, but i do hope the author is proud of this work

A bit of a struggle

The narration of this book I found quite annoying. And frankly, at times I found the author to be an annoying individual. For someone with little to no education in the field of psychology, the fact that he repeatedly said he was qualified to identify a psychopath was absurd to me. Anyone can buy a DSM, read it and make inferences about people, that hardly makes them qualified to “diagnose”. Overall I found some information to be interesting, but I don’t think this author discovered any earth shattering revelations about psychopathology, psych wards, or over diagnosis during that time era.

Interesting because it comes to more than one conclusion

I enjoyed this because it starts with a mystery that then leads to an examination of what the word psychopath infers…and then digs further into the descriptions; misunderstandings; jumps to conclusion; possible over-medication of some; while confirming that there are violent psychopaths (the existence of which), influences how non-violent offenders are also hospitalized. Really interesting and not a one-sided examination.

Fastening

A daunting look into the mental health system. How can it ever be adequately addressed?

Page turner

Addictive to listen to, so nonstop interesting. “Page turner” in the listening sense, I kept listening until o came to the end.

A must read or listen!

I love the way this book was written. It grips you from the very beginning and holds your attention throughout. I really enjoy the personal reflection from the author. It evoked very powerful thoughts and perspectives to mull over, which I really enjoyed discussing afterward.

Insightful, Kind, and Interesting

I had been looking forward to this listen as a major Ronson fan and it did not disappoint. Really fascinating journey into what is conceived our modern relationship with and conception of mental health.

Informative AF

Very well written, nicely narrated journey into the darkness of our minds. Would listen to again.

Wonderfully fresh approach to mental health psychopathy

Jon Ronson is as interesting and unique as ever in his exploration of the DSM and the Psycopath Test. Fantastic read.