A woman who has who sociopathic traits has explained how she navigates her love life without feeling empathy.
Former Miss Universe competitor Anika Batra has been candid online about what dating and relationships look like for her.
She regularly discusses her diagnosed condition across social media, responding to the questions that followers often ask about how she thinks and behaves in romantic situations.
While “sociopathy” is a term many people still use, clinicians today more commonly refer to Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD), partly because it’s seen as less stigmatizing.
Anika has said the disorder is often associated with ‘a lack of empathy, guilt, and remorse’ and that people do not have ‘what people like to call a conscience,’ also claiming an undernoticed trait can allegedly show up in a person’s eyes.
In a video posted to her YouTube page, Batra broke down her approach to dating and explained why she experiences connection differently from many other people.
“Since I have anti-social personality disorder, I don’t have empathy for other people.
“I had a PET scan done and my brain didn’t light up at all when I saw the suffering of others.
“I know what you are going through but I will never feel what you feel.”
She went on to explain that she tends to view relationships in a more transactional way, describing how she assesses closeness and what makes someone “worth keeping” in her life.
Even so, she emphasized that she can still maintain relationships, and described her own methods for placing value on the people she lets in.
“Love for me is more based on addiction. If I can’t go a day or two without talking to you then I think there is something there.
“If a person is too special to be cut off, like I do to everyone else, they become a part of me.
“I’m not a masochist so I’m not going to hurt myself or an extension of myself, being you.
“Everyone with ASPD sees things very transactionally. I quantify value so if you’ve dealt with one of my rants for three hours I am going to feel like I owe you something.
“My natural inclination is to serve only myself, that gets overridden when I meet someone I truly care about.
“If they can handle the rage and depression under the mask, this person is just too valuable to lose.”
Batra has also spoken before about what she believes contributed to her diagnosis, saying she thinks five traumatic experiences in her early life played a role in developing sociopathic traits.