www.questioning.com.au/mental-health-222830
Q: Is Psychopathy Genetic?
A: Dr Gina Felutti
Yes and no. Certain genes predispose the condition and when a number of them occur in the same person they can lead to psychopathy. However, it’s not like a hereditary disease where an abnormality in one distinct gene can be passed from parent to child (e.g. cystic fibrosis).
But this genetic predisposition for psychopathy that some may inherit, particularly if both parents carry this selection of genes, may indeed, when pushed to the edge by environmental factors such as trauma, neglect or abuse, particularly in key developmental stages in childhood or adolescence, cause a psychopathic personality to emerge and to elicit severe antisocial behaviour problems such as theft, manipulation or murder.
However, it’s important to note that people can have many aspects of psychopathy without being full-fledged psychopaths. Like all mental abnormalities, psychopathy functions on a spectrum.
‘That’s bright,’ Charlie says, pulling the pillow over his face.
‘Sorry, my love.’ Naomi clicks her phone into blackness. She puts a finger into the sleeping Isla’s palm. Her tiny fingers close around it.