‘I didn’t want to hurt that girl. I just felt this pressure building … ’ The sociopath who learned to behave – and found happiness

Patric Gagne has spent most of her life fighting terrible urges. She is also a loving sister, daughter, mother and wife. She talks about her remarkable journey

There is a slight flash in her eyes as Patric Gagne describes what she calls the “tug” – the moment she imagines something she really shouldn’t do and thinks: “Wouldn’t that be fun?”

She laughs. What would once have been a compulsion can now be overpowered by logic and consequences. “You want to take that car for a joyride? Yes, but if I did that, I’m probably going to have to answer for it. And do I want to? Not really.” This isn’t to say that Gagne wouldn’t jump at an opportunity, if she could argue she wasn’t at fault. It happened recently, she says. Waiting for her car, parked by a valet, she was given the keys to someone else’s and drove off in it. “They handed me the keys! And then I was like” – she puts on a mock-surprised voice – “‘Oh, this is not my car.’” Her husband, when he heard, “didn’t love it”, she says. She smiles as if to say: but what did he expect?

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