Patric Gagne
Doctor of Clinical Psychology, Former Therapist, Psychopathic Disorder Advocate 

Patric Gagne is a writer, former therapist, and advocate for those suffering from sociopathic, psychopathic, and anti-social personality disorders. She earned her PhD in clinical psychology with a dissertation that examined the relationship between sociopathy and anxiety. This research, as well as her own experience with a sociopathic disorder, informed her own writing. 

Gagne’s New York Times bestselling memoir, Sociopath, details her struggle to understand her sociopathy and shed light on the often maligned and misunderstood mental disorder. Since Gagne was young, emotions like fear, guilt, and empathy eluded her. Although she tried to blend in, the constant pressure to conform to a society she knew rejected anyone like her caused her to turn to occasional violence, lying, and stealing. But when she reconnected with an old flame and discovered that she is capable of love, she also learned that maybe she, and other sociopaths, aren’t monsters. 

In her keynotes, Gagne emphasizes that sociopathy is widely distorted by misconceptions, extreme portrayals in film and media, and conflation with other mental disorders. Her honest accounts aim to build empathy for the challenges faced by sociopaths and psychopaths, who comprise roughly 5% of the population, and often experience it on a spectrum. 

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Sociopath – A Memoir
Saturday | May 3, 2023
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
(2 CEs)

Session Description:

Patric Gagne realized she made others uncomfortable before she started kindergarten. Something about her caused people to react in a way she didn’t understand. She suspected it was because she didn’t feel things the way other kids did. Emotions like fear, guilt, and empathy eluded her. For the most part, she felt nothing. And she didn’t like the way that “nothing” felt.She did her best to pretend she was like everyone else, but the constant pressure to conform to a society she knew rejected anyone like her was unbearable. So Patric stole. She lied. She was occasionally violent. She became an expert lock-picker and home-invader. All with the goal of replacing the nothingness with...something.

In college, Patric finally confirmed what she’d long suspected. She was a sociopath. But even though it was the very first personality disorder identified—well over 200 years ago—sociopathy had been neglected by mental health professionals for decades. She was told there was no treatment, no hope for a normal life. She found herself haunted by sociopaths in pop culture, madmen and evil villains who are considered monsters. Her future looked grim.

But when Patric reconnects with an old flame, she gets a glimpse of a future beyond her diagnosis. If she’s capable of love, it must mean that she isn’t a monster. With the help of her sweetheart (and some curious characters she meets along the way) she embarks on a mission to prove that the millions of Americans who share her diagnosis aren’t all monsters either.

This is the inspiring story of her journey to change her fate and how she managed to build a life full of love and hope.