I grew up in a home with a psychopathic sibling. I did not know that she was a psychopath, but observed that she was vastly different from others I knew who were her age. To me, she was the “big sister,” six years older, who was fearless and captivated many, especially the males her age. She knew what to say and how to say it—even if she lied.

Psychologist Robert Lindner suggests in his book, Rebel Without a Cause, that the psychopathic sibling does not like “whoever it is who interferes with the child’s energetic attempts to obtain the attention and affection of the mother.”1 The psychopathic child has no qualms about manipulating the mother, especially if vying for her attention. My sister mastered how to manipulate our parents and more distant family members to get her way and to get them to believe untrue stories about me that she concocted. I had no idea any of this was happening until much later in my life.

My sister showed high levels of psychopathic characteristics from an early age. She was the only child until my birth. The psychopath does not take well to........

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