The most difficult relationship to extricate oneself from with a sociopath is a sexual relationship, for the sociopath uses sex as the ultimate form of manipulation and control, but feels little to no emotion in the process.

For some men, there is a strange attraction to a personality type that displays the characteristics of commonly referred to hysterical drama, but does not have what modern psychiatrists call a conversion disorder. This is a woman who is not only exceptionally attractive physically, but is also a sociopath that indulges in hysterical outbursts and behaviors. The physical attraction is the bait; the hysterical or dramatic outburst keeps the relationship going by precipitating conflict that is the gateway to seemingly apocalyptic, but very controlled, sex. As some therapists will tell you, men who are drawn to such women most likely had mothers who displayed similar kinds of outbursts. Intellectually, these men can know the relationship is dysfunctional, but they find the emotional content so familiar that they can’t resist it. The sex is the ultimate sinew that ties them to it.

The “dramatic,” like other sociopaths, provides glimmers of past abuses in past relationships, which really is bragging about past bad behaviors and promises of new ones yet to come. Men drawn to these women ignore those warnings, and think they have the power to change such women. Clearly, the problem exists on both sides of the gender divide, but the sexual behavior of male sociopaths is another story.