When Loïc De Marie was six years old, a classmate died in a car accident, and the classroom erupted in tears. According to coverage from SBS, the young boy sat dry-eyed while his teacher stared at him, wondering why he was not crying. Today, at 26 years old, De Marie lives with a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and psychopathic traits, a profile he discusses openly.
Understanding Psychopathy and Antisocial Personality Disorder
De Marie received his diagnosis three years ago after growing tired of masking his internal processes, according to SBS. A psychologist identified traits associated with psychopathy, which included a lack of empathy and remorse, manipulation, lying, and a reckless disregard for the safety of others. Growing up in Belgium, De Marie recalls struggling to process emotions from an early age. He remembers watching his little sister fall into their backyard pool and looking at her without an immediate emotional reaction, though he ultimately saved her by extending a plastic golf club so he would not get his clothes wet in the water, as reported by SBS.
As he aged, these difficulties manifested in severe behavioral outbursts, including schoolyard fights. According to SBS, he once brought a baseball bat to school during a dispute with another student, an incident that resulted in an arrest on school grounds but no major legal prison sentence.
Clinical Perspective on Empathy and Violence
Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Rajan Darjee notes that antisocial personality disorder describes individuals who repeatedly break rules due to personality problems, while psychopathy represents a much narrower set of traits within that category. “They’re callous, they lack concern for other people, they lack empathy,” Dr. Darjee told SBS. However, Dr. Darjee emphasizes that these characteristics do not automatically mean an individual will commit crimes or cause harm, noting that many people with psychopathic traits never break the law.
Dr. Darjee explains that empathy functions as the glue of human socialization, but its absence does not directly cause violence. Instead, a lack of empathy simply means that when an individual faces a choice regarding violent behavior, they lack the emotional internal brake that typically weighs in favor of peace, according to SBS.
De Marie on What Empathy Feels Like
To articulate his internal experience, De Marie compares empathy to music. “Everybody in the room can understand the words of the music and the melody… I don’t hear the melody — I don’t understand it,” he told SBS. His father, Philippe, acknowledges that receiving a formal clinical diagnosis provided a valuable framework for understanding his son, allowing the family to approach support through open communication and love, as detailed by SBS.
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