Neopaths: what are they and what are their characteristic behaviors

Although today the Internet is nothing new, its power never ceases to amaze us. Many people make correct use of this tool, which in the end is just that, a tool.

But there are also cases of people who have used social networks to broadcast their messages of hatred and threats, engaging in criminal practices taking advantage of the great impact of the new technologies.

These types of people have been called "neopaths", individuals who express their tensions, delusions, aggressiveness and various problems through social networks.

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Neopaths: who are they?

The term "neopath" has a lot to do with cyberspace, social networks and the Internet in general. The virtual world is an environment in which many different people can make contact, so it is normal to find people with all kinds of personalities and behaviors. As would be expected in the real world, in its online substitute we can find people whose behavior is pathological and socially inappropriate.

Among this type of people we would find Neopaths, individuals, especially young people, who try to gain recognition on the Internet in any caseeven if it means hurting other people. We can say that neuropathy encompasses all those individuals who show their tensions, delusions, aggressiveness or psychotic problems through of the Internet, taking advantage of its great extension and the ability to send threats protected by anonymity, also spreading its crimes.

While this term does not refer to a specific disorder or pathological style of behaviorYes, we can understand that it is a type of profile on the Internet that is quite harmful. In fact, breaking down the term we can see the Greek words "neo", which means "new", and "pathos", which translates as "suffering", being able to interpret this word as that a neopath is that person who has created a new way of causing suffering, and it can well be considered as something similar to a psychopath.

All properly neopathic crimes are implicitly linked to the Internet. Among them we could talk about launching insults and death threats to people they hate, selecting victims of rape through social networks, posting a video on the one who beat up a homeless person, humiliate a classmate and spread it through the class chat group or commit computer crimes believing themselves to be authentic hackers. Neopaths are also considered to be those who announce massacres through the networks and then commit them, as has happened several times in the last two decades.

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Neopath traits

The idea behind neopaths is somewhat diffuse. It is important to understand that this it is not an official diagnostic label, and that more than referring to a mental disorder or a pathological style of behavior, it refers to the phenomenon of encountering aggressive people who use social networks to spread their behavior little social. However, it is possible to talk about some characteristics of this type of person.

The first is that neopaths are usually young people under 30 although in many cases adolescents who, it is suspected, do not have a great social life and they may even be victims of bullying both at school and on social media that frequent. This would result in the desire to "return" to the world the pain they have suffered so much, taking advantage of the anonymity or using an alias that makes them feel like someone else, much more important than what they manage to be in life real.

It has also been said that the profile of neopaths entails qualities such as narcissism, due to their great need for attention or admiration seeking. Many neopaths want to achieve some fame in the virtual world, to be recognized for having committed something that it will not be indifferent to the majority of society, even if it means doing serious harm to others people. By harming others, the neopath shows traits shared with narcissists, who tend to devalue others.

One trait that draws the attention of neopaths is that They differ from psychopaths because they leave traces in the networks of the damage they are doing. Although they do have an interest in knowing what they have done, their lack of care is often due to their immaturity, instability and weakness to control their impulses, making them forget the clues that can make them stop them, such as the fact that on the Internet practically nothing is done in a way. anonymous.

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Types of neopaths

Although each neopath is different, we can comment on some general features of the way she behaves. The desire of neopaths to find fame and notoriety is so great that in some cases they commit outrageous acts without measuring the consequences that may entail. The only thing that matters to them is that they are known for what they did, his 15 minutes of fame for having done something truly harmful.

As the networks make it much easier for their actions to have great reach, they do not hesitate to spread them out there. Added to this, if they know about the acts of other neopaths they try to overcome them, as if it were a barbaric competition. Naturally there are neopathic acts milder than others that come to indicate that we can make differentiations between types of neopaths.

1. Impostors

As their name suggests, impostor neopaths are those who impersonate another person to contact their victims. These victims can be real friends of the person whose identity has been stolen or, also, unknown people who trust themselves when they see the photograph or the false description of that profile.

2. Predators

This neopath profile corresponds to the one who attacks with planning, hiding his identity, looking for potential victims, discovering their weaknesses and taking advantage of them.

3. Informants

They are those neopaths who report their crimes. Within this category we can differentiate between two main types, the one that reports the crime that it has already committed and the one that warns of those it plans to commit.

Those who have already committed them warn of their crime by hanging it on the networks. They are people who may well have hurt an animal or even a person, have recorded the vile act and post it on the networks so that it spreads and people know about them, even under a pseudonym.

Those who plan to commit them take advantage of the Internet to promote the crimes they intend to do in the near future, such as a school shooting, setting off a bomb, murdering someone...

4. Relays

Related to the previous category, we have neopaths who broadcast the crime they are committing in real time. This type of aggressor is the most striking, since we could well say that behaves like a star eager to get fans, in this case witnesses to the criminal acts you are committing.

The neopathic broadcaster feeds on the uncertainty of those who are seeing what is happening live, since at not being a prerecorded video, it is not clear how it will end, with how many victims or injuries the fateful issue.

Control of social networks

The fact that there are different types of neopaths indicates that, despite the fact that the Internet and social networks already They have existed for years, today there is little control over the content that is posted on them and, unfortunately, also there are little control when managing threats released into cyberspace.

Although there are some mechanisms that prevent this type of content from flourishing on the networks, the one that escapes can become something truly dangerous.

Since the Columbine massacre, not a few neopaths have tried to overcome that event. To mention a few cases of murderers who have warned of what they were going to do and have done it, we have the cases of Cho Seung-Hui, perpetuator of the Virginia Tech massacre. (2007), the Finnish Pekka-Eric Auvinen, the cause of the massacre at the Jokela institute (2007) and another compatriot, Matti Juhani Saari, author of the massacre at the Kauhajoki institute (2008).

The problem is not only in the fact that they have been warned of what they were going to do and that nobody has been able to stop them, rather, the content posted on the networks is very difficult to eliminate, despite having the intention of stopping its circulation. This applies not only to videos of student massacres, but also to recordings of rapes, videos snuff and of another type where a crime is shown that, once it is posted on the Internet, its diffusion is almost unlimited.

For this reason it is necessary to make a responsible use of the networks, not only being careful with what is hung on them knowing that others may misuse our information, but also properly denouncing any content that poses a serious danger to society or showing how a crime is committed. Although it will be very difficult for this content to be removed, the person responsible for it will have to give explanations to the relevant authorities and may even prevent you from actually committing an act atrocious.