Character Disturbance: The Phenomenon of Our Age

by George K. Simon Jr.

Modern permissiveness and the new culture of entitlement allows disturbed people to reach adulthood without proper socialization. In a book meant both for the general public and for professionals, bestselling author and psychologist George Simon explains in plain English:

•How most disturbed characters think.
•The habitual behaviors the disturbed use to avoid responsibility and to manipulate, deceive, and exploit others.
•Why victims in relationships with disturbed characters do not get help they need from traditional therapies.
•A straightforward guide to recognizing and understanding all relevant personality types, especially those most likely to undermine relationships.
•A new framework for making sense of the crazy world many find themselves in when there's a disturbed character in their lives.
•Concrete principles that promote responsibility and positive change when engaging disturbed characters.
•Tactics (for both lay persons and therapists) to lessen the chances for victimization and empower those who would otherwise be victims in their relationships with many types of disturbed characters.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Self Help, Relationships, Science, Mental Illness

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 2010

About the author

George K. Simon, Jr., Ph.D. is a leading expert on manipulators and people diagnosed with character disorders. Not only a psychologist, Dr. Simon is also a public speaker, consultant, professional trainer and composer who has appeared on numerous national television and radio programs.

Reviews

[Debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Character Disturbance took me much longer to read than it should have. In my defense it is a book I had to step away from and give a lot of thought to because I saw the behavior in several people close to me. When it becomes personal like that, it is a different type of reading that takes place. I learned a lot from this book, not only about those around me but, about myself and how I feel about those around me. It is a book that I will be putting on my shelf and re-reading in a few months. You can not take it all in and fully absorb it all in one reading. I have also read his other book 'In Sheep's clothing' and felt the same way about it. I highly recommend this book. I also recommend highlighting and taking notes as you read it.

[Charlene · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book should have been called, "How to Justify Racism."

The DSM is fraught with problems, especially the diagnosis of the various personality disorders. It's very hard to fit a person into an appropriate category because the criteria are so messy. Diagnosing a personality disorder is nothing like diagnosing a medical illness that can be detected via a blood test. Instead, the DSM relies on "experts" to think critically, act responsibly, and above all, read the mind of their client. That is a pretty tall order. If all that were not bad enough, the creation of various personality disorders have been heavily criticized, and rightfully so. But, I thought Simon was one expert who really cut through the bullshit and provided useful and fair insights. I was wrong.

It's clear there is no shortage of individuals who cause people (sometimes many people) a lot of pain and aggravation, and can even contribute to their victims feeling depressed and suicidal. These individuals, mainly manipulators, obviously need to be effectively handled. We need people who know how to handle someone like that. This author had the potential to be among the best to handle someone like that or help the victim of a manipulator better handle the situation.

George Simon does not accept the current idea that manipulators are that way because they lack self esteem or were traumatized in some way. Rather, he suggests that the victim learn patterns of manipulation and refuse to play the game. I am all for that. In fact, I think his previous book Sheep's Clothing was one of the best books I have ever read about manipulative disorders. I would even go so far as to say the first part of this book (with a few exceptions) was as good as Sheep's clothing. However, there is a huge flaw in Simon's thinking that peaked through many times throughout the book and reared its ugly head continuously during the last chapter.

What is the problem? Simon himself is a disordered character. What would you call someone on the wrong side of history? What of the proponents of slavery that told the enslaved peoples to "respect authority!"? What of the people who reminded black folks in the Era of Jim Crow to, 'Listen to the police and be respectful," even though those same police played a direct role in maintaining an inequality in power and basic rights between Whites and Blacks in America? Simon is a huge fan of locking people up. He thinks selling weed is tantamount to an evil deed. But, for argument's sake, let's agree with Simon that weed is terrible (even though if we look at the neuroscientific and basic biological effects of weed on a person's body and the fact that weed is not a factor in violent crimes the way alcohol is, it is clear that weed is less damaging than alcohol). Then, it should be the case that we lock up Blacks and Whites at equal rates. We don't. In fact, for the *same* crimes (especially involving drugs) we have a very long history of locking up Blacks but not Whites. That is, when black and white people do the same drugs or commit the same violent act, they are arrested more often, charged with a crime more often, found guilty more often, and caged more often than white people (who did the same thing!). And yet, Simon promotes locking even more people up because apparently we aren't tough enough on crime, even though we are the leaders in incarceration in the Western World.

I would call people who promoted slavery or Jim Crow "disturbed characters." Since Simon has chosen to focus on people locked up in jail and promoted the actions that put them there, which are without question systematically racists, he too is a disturbed character.

It's a shame because he was truly onto something. Why do great minds often go way too far and ruin what could have been a solid, paradigm shifting approach. All he has done by focusing on mass incarceration is created an us v them mentality. I am certain he is smart enough to connect the dots and realize that what he promotes leads to racist behaviors. It's easy to imagine him fighting against Black Lives Matter and fighting for those who fight not for justice for for a system that has absolutely acted in unjust ways. I guess that is his choice but he is no longer on my list of people I would ever take advice from.

[Kate Woods Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, author George K. Simon seems a bit stuffy. Certainly he adheres to old-school ideas of what constitutes a family. And yes, he tut-tuts a bit about the dangers of hedonism.

While I might not agree with his prescriptions, I can't help but applaud his diagnosis. Simon, in Character Disturbance: The Phenomenon of Our Age, posits that our current frame of reference in psychological matters is outdated. Our "neurosis" frame was a perfect fit for the Victorians, but today, Simon argues, the society suffers not from disorders of overactive conscience but from disorders of too little.

This book, aimed at professionals and lay people alike, spells out the many ways the character disordered (the malignant narcissists, the sociopaths, the psychopaths) evade detection, game the system and fool the professionals. This is a good book to keep handy when wondering about the difficult people in your life.

[Amy Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book for the lay person who wants to understand the truth behind character disturbance in lieu of the popularized mythology promoted by today's self-proclaimed armchair psychologists. It is never my recommendation that the formally uneducated (meaning "lack of rigorous college level study leading to a degree")rely on the DSM-IV for knowledge of disorders. Why? Because it is a training tool and only ONE training tool for those educated in the field. The DSM-IV or any of its previous or pending editions is not intended to be used by the unlearned as a diagnostic tool. Even trained psychologists have difficulty in applying the DSM appropriately. Character Disturbance by Dr. Simon, however, is written with the lay person in mind. Although some may consider his style "old school" it should be noted that there is much to be gleaned from "old school" in terms of classic information.

One of the things that I appreciate so very much about this book is that it dispels the myth that people only become disturbed due to some traumatic event. For some persons, this is true. The hard reality of the truly aggressive personality is that they are NOT made that way through circumstance but are hardwired from birth to be deceitful, manipulative, aggressive, and abusive. The truth of the matter is that the character disturbed person is not trying to compensate for some deep internal pain. They are deceitful and abusive because that is who they are, period.

The truly character disturbed personality cannot be rehabilitated. They will not spontaneously resolve internal conflict and become feeling, caring, compassionate people. They can playact compassion for limited periods of time but will always revert back to their natural tendencies which are to be dominant and aggressive in every situation to the detriment of those around them.

[E. Dade · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fox News Pundant

One of the highlights of this “common sense” book about personality disorders has got to be his attempt at using an "urban affect" when introducing us to a female inmate. Both condescending and shamelessly racist. He also claims to believe in Judeo-Christian tenants and admits to using a supernatural approach to medicine. he's extremely judgemental when referring to his patients. The vitriol and condescension he has for everyone else in this difficult, yet rewarding field as " neurotic" actually reveals plenty of personal things about the author and his handle on the profession. He conflates neurotics with all mental health workers (except for himself obviously).there's a reverence for twelve-step programs (although the recidivism rates prove these "Twelve-Step Programs" to be highly ineffective in treating addiction, and compulsive behavior) there’s also the citing of a one Dr. Keith Ablow (television psychiatrist, author, and enthusiastic conversion therapy advocate ) is just one of the charlatans, outdated texts and data from studies that have been debunked or at best unreliable to back up ridiculous claims, anecdotal evidence bizarre theories, hypothetical situations, and problematic opinions. The medical validity of his sources are highly suspect. The author's politics permeate the text. Although the book isn't written for academics, it shouldn't appeal to anti-intellectuals. this screed does nothing to help further readers from understanding/recognizing symptoms. Focusing on positive, rational, and practiced techniques to treat and work with people afflicted with psychological disorders. This book offered no answers or advice. This is a cynical book, it's rhetoric is problematic it lacks relevant data, and is devoid of empathy. People without empathy are better surgeons. Mental health professionals who choose prejudice over compassion are incompetent.

[Mary Karpel-Jergic · Rating 5 out of 5]

A breath of fresh air that stops viewing destructive behaviour towards others as a result of poor childhood etc and instead looks at adults as responsible beings making choices.

[Nahid · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book on knowing and dealing with disturbed characters effectively. It’s written for lay person and therapists alike. Disturbed character uses manipulation and impression management tactics to manipulate others. This new book by George K. Simon, does two things really well: It paints a no-nonsense picture of how people with personality disorders, including manipulator and their counterparts, such as: sociopaths, behave. And it explains why traditional psychotherapy, in attempting to understand these individuals, gets it so wrong. His previous book “In sheep’s Clothing” was a life saver for thousands of people, including me. However, Character Disturbance book is more fleshed out. This book digs down the subtle and subtlest tactics used by manipulators (Covert Aggressive Personality). While reading his previous book, I still had some questions regarding manipulators tactics and their thinking patterns. This book is almost the ultimate answer to me. The author beautifully laid out manipulator’s distorted thinking and habitual behavior patterns that foster and perpetuate their character flaws. Manipulators are very all aware of what is right and wrong, but they deliberately exploit, abuse and wield control over people.

I bought both books after researching on the net about some people who were being difficult to get along with & who kept making excuses and avoiding direct confrontation. They always seemed to have to look better than others and avoided responsibility for and trivializing the things they did wrong, while always pointing out & making a big deal out of the mistakes of others.

There’s a misconception that people only become disturbed due to some traumatic events in their childhood and teen hood. NO. For some persons, this is true. The hard reality of the truly aggressive personality is that they are NOT made that way through circumstance but are hardwired from birth to be deceitful, manipulative, aggressive, and abusive. The truth of the matter is that the character disturbed person is not trying to compensate for some deep internal pain. They are deceitful and abusive because that is who they are, period. Another misconception is that, when something goes wrong people blame the system (family, organization, society, economy and politics). But behind every system human beings are sole responsible for its outcome.

A really important insight is this: Simon says that “the primary interpersonal agenda for aggressive and other character-disordered personalities is position, position, position.” In other words, these individuals always want to be dominant—an idea that’s hard for the rest of us to accept. I personally witnessed this in manipulators who always tries to get upper hand on people they interact. The problem is, we don’t know how the character-disturbed people think and act, but they know how we think and act. The truly character disturbed personality cannot be rehabilitated but their tactics can be stopped the moment they try to employ them. They will not spontaneously resolve internal conflict and become feeling, caring, compassionate people. They can play-act compassion for limited periods of time but will always revert back to their natural tendencies which are to be dominant and aggressive in every situation to the detriment of those around them.

I highly recommend both books (In Sheep's Clothing first & primarily).

[ElectricTrillobyte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommended. This is truly an Excellent book on an important area of human concern: people who have deficits in or absence of conscience (character disturbance). Written for both the general public as for professionals, it is both an authoritative and yet easy to understand book. The main thesis Simon puts forth is that people with problems with conscience are very different from those who have a well-developed conscience and manifest psychopathology based on guilt, shame, anxiety and depression (neurosis). Character disturbed individuals have good insight into what is off/wrong with them, but like themselves that way (ego syntonic), overvalue themselves, and feel entitled to trample over others they perceive as weaker, unlike neurotics who often lack insight and have low self esteem. The book has several excellent points and teaches many useful skills on how to deal with characters who have underperforming consciences, are resistant to socialization and cause harm to others. The author takes the time to explain how to deal with and treat/work with disturbed characters. Highly recommended for professionals in the fields of addiction, criminal justice, mental health, and community services. Other good books on the subject are Without Conscience by Robert Hare, The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout, Snakes in Suits by Paul Babiak and Robert Hare, and The Mask of Sanity by Hervey Cleckley.

[Scot Parker · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was fraught with undertones (and overtones) of racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and other bigotry. The arguments and "information" presented are not supported with much in the way of real science, and several of the sources cited are suspect, to say the least (for instance, Dr. Keith Ablow, who "brought a toxic mix of homophobia and pseudoscientific anti-LGBT talking points to new lows.") Simon supports the absurdly high incarceration rates in the United States and goes as far as to suggest that more people should be incarcerated. He also argues for a return to corporal punishment and concludes that many of society's problems can be traced back to a breakdown in the nuclear family. While the first half of the book was fairly interesting, these other factors utterly destroyed it for me, and I do not recommend this book.

[John Rapp · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most interesting, enlightening, and unexpectedly moving books I've ever read.

[Matt Powell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Has a weird worldview assuming some people are irredemable. Also assumes that there is a correct way of living that we are not following and therefore should be.

[Celyn Perdeli · Rating 5 out of 5]

As they say, "The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off." This book was incredibly difficult for me to read. A little of it had to do with the general difficulty I face with therapy books - there's always several chapters of introducing the problem and describing the problem but the thing I really, really, Really want, the how to fix the problem part, is always somewhere at the end - but much of it had to do with finally figuring out just how much one of my family members fits into this. I can no longer blame it on the generational trauma she passed on to me for the abuse she sustained in her childhood, no, in this case it's me who's being repeatedly, constantly degraded, humiliated, bullied, and threatened. And she knows what she's doing, and she knows it's wrong, but she's not sorry about it and she truly doesn't care how much she's done to me, she just sees me at her mercy and uses me to feel good about herself. I've been going to therapy and working on myself for years and trying, trying, always trying to be a better person, to see things from her perspective, to try to forgive and try to feel sorry for her but - this is it. This is what's happening, what's been happening my entire life. I feel so heartbroken. All that effort on my part, and she is this. But now I can apply some of the tips in here. Now I have a chance of protecting myself somehow, at least until I can afford to move out.

For those of you who have suffered or are suffering abuse, you'll want to try out the second to last and last chapters before you lose your nerve and chicken out like I somewhat did. Yes there's some terminology you might be confused about, but if you need to figure out what the hell your abusers are about and set boundaries ASAP those last few chapters are where they're at. I'll need to revisit those pages myself and take notes so that I can remember them and shield myself. I'm recommending this book to a friend who's in a bad family situation like me. For the rest of you, good luck out there.

[Aliya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a can't put down read for me, for many reasons.

Simon is a very skilled psychologist, and both his best selling titles show his deep understanding of the dark side of human nature. I had found his other book to be very enlightening as well. This book is aptly titled, "Character Disturbance, a phenomenon of our times." the term, "our times," denotes the current consumerist digital age, where
people the world over, live to consume and are linked via technology, as never before. In such a situation, the socio-economic environment has bred disturbed characters in abundance.

This assertion is veritable.

The basic premise of this book is the Cognitive-Behavioral-Triad (CBT). It is best summed up as: beliefs shape attitudes which lead to behavior. Disturbed personalities generally harbor the insidious belief of their personal superiority over other mortals; the result is an attitude of entitlement accompanied by a callous disregard for others, who stand in the way of their desires/aspirations/goals. It finally leads to behavior, which is anti-social. The antisocial behavior runs the whole gamut. It's cornerstones are: aggression; responsibility avoidance; manipulation; and impression management. The author elaborates on the tactics involved in each of these.

The author goes into depth to distinguish between neurotics and character disturbed individuals; both these personality
types form the two ends of a continuum.

Neurotics have psychological issues due to their unconscious fears, insecurities, and conflicted emotions. They can be treated with traditional psychopathology. Character disturbed people, on the other hand, have a problem with their thinking patterns, which leads to habitual irresponsible behavior. Simon repeatedly stresses upon
the point that character disturbed individuals are well aware of their anti-social thinking and behavior (ego syntonic), hence the traditional methods of psychology to uncover unconscious fears and emotions, is counter-productive. Infact, Simon asserts, that psychologists who treat them as neurotics-due to the belief in basic human goodness-are easily manipulated by character disturbed individuals.

Simon asserts that the foundation of a healthy character is willing submission to the higher power or God. This conclusion of his lifelong work is the exact definition of "Islam." Islam is derived from the rootword s-l-m, which means submission (to God). A Muslim is one who surrenders his will to God's will. This earthly life is meant to be a series of tests, which can only be passed with the exercise of free will rooted in character development. Allah refers to the Qur'an, as "guidance," and emphatically states that the Divine Qur'an is the only source of absolute guidance for manknd.

Only an astute psychologist could have drawn the conclusions which Simon has. He has unwittingly written a book, that makes a case for Islam, preaching to the western audience (especially to the Jews, but also the Christians). There are so many statements he makes, which perfectly corroborate the Qur'an (especially the story of the Jews). The Jews hold erroneous beliefs of being the "chosen ones," and being above all others. This belief leads to an attitude of entitlement,
that Israel is theirs, no matter what the geo-political reality They hence carry out genocide to claim what they feel entitled to. When confronted with their anti-social behavior, they engage in manipulation (guilt tripping the western world with the inquisition and the holocaust, as well as demonizing the Muslims/Arabs) and impression management(claims of being the only civilized race and functioning democracy in the ME, as well as victims of terrorism).

One could claim that in Israel it is not Judaism but Zionism which is the cause of these ills. The Qur'an addresses the exact
beliefs I mentioned above, of the Jews. The Qur'an is 1,400 years old, and Zionism made its debut in 1890, just 125 years ago.
It's not the political philosophy of Zionism, which is the cause of gross injustice. Rather, is the unwillingness to
submit to Allah/God, and the self-serving belief in rabbinical teachings (man made), which leads to character disturbance.

The late Israel Shahak had stated that there is no such thing as a Judeo-Christian tradition; he further said that western think tanks etc
are frequently wrong in their predictions about Isreali politicians because they don't understand the Jewish psyche at work
behind it. This statement is proven by this book.

Simon stresses upon two factors. He states that self-esteem is derived from pride in nature's endowments, such as looks,
intelligence and wealth. Self-respect-which is of greater importance-is derived from how one employs these endowments, with gratitude (to God). If you examine this valid claim, The Jewish faith is all about self-esteem based on descent. The Christian faith on the other hand, teaches good works and grace-even in the face of vicarious atonement.

This is a fine point to understand.

Christians hence behave like the psychologists who follow the traditional psychopathology paradigm. They do not understand
the CBT paradigm, and instead treat the Isreali issue on the basis of nuerosis (exhibiting guilt, shame, anxiety and depression). The Christian west attributes Isreali aggression to the centuries old persecution of the Jews by Europe-culminating in the holocaust-as a cause of major insecurity and fear, which justifies the stance of Isreal. This understanding is aided by the manipulation of world media by Jewish interests. The result is an ongoing genocide
of Arab Palestinians.

CBT applies equally to individuals as well as entire groups. If your beliefs are wrong, your behavior will be wrong. Period!

If you read this book paying close attention and absorbing the points Simon makes, and then you read chapter 2 and 3 of the Qur'an, you will be making the Islamic declaration of faith-provided you are honest with your own self.

I sincerely hope that Dr. George Simon reads this review and then reads the translation of the Qur'an by Muhammad Asad (a rabbi revert), available for free at islamicity.com.

[G. Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found a lot of this interesting, certainly enlightening, but the belief that having faith in a higher power (God or otherwise) will cause people to act with responsibility and fairness I certainly don't hold with. If that were true the crusades, suicide bombing, more religious genocides than I can think of as well as every serial killer who apparently had God on his side wouldn't exist. Also I get the notion that our laws don't effectively govern all crimes, sure, but there have to be blanket laws because laws are there to try to govern a wide expanse of people. I fail to see what could replace blanket laws on things like sexual harassment. Those laws could include more problematic behaviours of course, but they'd still be blanket laws that applied to everyone out of necessity.
Good psychology in here, interesting material, but the ways of "solving" such societal problems are personal and problematic.

[Silvana Klaric boricic · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a life saviour for all those people who had a misfortune (many of us) to date or marry a person with character disturbance and who had tried and tried and tried to understand their beloved's behaviour and love them more to 'heal' them but everything failed.
"Character disturbance exists along a spectrum of severity. Some folks have only a few problematic traits in their character makeup. They may even possess a few “neurotic” features. That is, they might have a fairly decent conscience and struggle with inner conflicts and insecurities. But other folks don’t have good consciences. And as a result they don’t get perturbed about the hurtful things they do. So, how do you tell where someone is on the spectrum? That’s always best revealed in their pattern of behavior." George K. Simon
https://www.drgeorgesimon.com/charact...

[cypher · Rating 4 out of 5]

“i don’t know” is usually used as a manipulative tactic to get away
many “defensive” behaviours are manipulative tactics

good book, it’s just that i don’t think these things have a cure, the way that the book suggests, it’s a matter of values, which, once set, are almost impossible to change.
even if a person like that temporarily adopts a different attitude, it’s only to get themselves out of the situation of being caught or in need of “fixing”, get the right label or a better one, then, with the first chance they have where they truly think they can get away, they act similarly. it’s important to understand that people like this act overall the way they do because they found it easier, then anything else, and easy will be what will tempt them every time.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recently read this eye opening book. It helped me see some very difficult relationships in a new light. Now I am reading 7 Habits of Highly Successful People. I would recommend pairing these books when reading because one points to the consequences of having depth of character and this one to the consequences of lacking depth of character. It can clear up a lot of muddy emotions and confusion when dealing with manipulative, deceptive people, gaslighting, narcissists, etc. It won’t fix the problem but gives a better vantage point when dealing with these types of people so you can make better choices in dealing with them or decide to move on from them due to their “character disturbances.”

[Michele L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The rest of the story...
While other books explain what abuse is and looks like, this book seeks to outline the 'why' of it.
Character Disturbance explains the rest of the story behind your dance cycles with toxic and disordered personalities. You simply are blind to the reasoning and MO of predators who don't think the way normal people do. Can't ever seem to solve problems in your relationship? While you're trying to solve problems they're trying to manipulate & control or 'impression manage' their public image. For me, this is a final puzzle piece of why nothing can be solved. Our goals are NOT the same. A truly eye-opening look into the mind of abusers & character disturbed persons.

[Farhana Faruq · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure what to make of this book. It was interesting, but it also has things I really don't agree with - like some people can't change/or get better. I also don't actually know any disturbed characters
nor am I around any so this book isn't very useful to me in any way.

This is a 9 hour audio book.

[Kevin OBrien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buy it

I purchased this book to read about character disturbance but got a whole lot more from it at the end. I took away a number a concepts that i hope to apply to parenting my daughter.

[Maria Montero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brave

Tais book has the answer for most of our social problems. I'm thankful for having come across this book, because i was very confused about how to effectively deal with people that have character defects

[Diana . · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating, I enjoyed the 'parenting' part a lot, the author's view on permissiveness and entitlement makes you think

[Tophiguit · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this after In Sheep's Clothing. Both are exceptional books.

[Mariyam Shamshidova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal book, explains the decay in social structure happening across the world, and especially in the West. What an excellent work!

[Molly Laich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did you know I’m a therapist? Go fuck yourself no one reads my reviews, anyway, this book was pretty Illuminative about character disturbance (mostly synonymous with personality disorders) versus the typical neurotic. A little bizarre though when in the epilogue the author casually calls for a return to corporal punishment

[Landyn Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Character Disturbance: The Phenomenon of Our Age by George K. Simon Jr. offers a thorough examination of the psychological and behavioral traits associated with character disturbances—a concept that Simon argues is increasingly relevant in today’s society. The book provides a detailed analysis of manipulative behaviors and how they manifest in various forms of character disturbance.

One of the strengths of this book is Simon’s ability to clearly articulate the patterns and traits that define character disturbances. His explanations are accessible and grounded in real-world examples, making the content relatable and easy to understand. The book goes beyond merely identifying problematic behaviors, offering insights into why these behaviors occur and how they can be addressed.

However, while the content is informative, I found that the book sometimes lacked the depth and nuance I was hoping for. The analysis, though clear, can feel somewhat repetitive, with certain concepts being revisited multiple times without offering new perspectives. Additionally, the book’s focus on practical advice and self-help, while valuable, may not fully satisfy those looking for a more scholarly or in-depth exploration of the topic.

Overall, Character Disturbance provides a solid foundation for understanding the phenomenon of character disturbances and offers practical advice for dealing with such individuals. While it didn’t fully meet my expectations in terms of depth, it’s a worthwhile read for those seeking to better understand the manipulative behaviors that Simon describes. It’s particularly useful for anyone dealing with these issues in personal or professional relationships.

[Lillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simon provides a clear outline of what character disturbance is and why it is so important to recognize that not all people are able to empathize or be selfless. Character disturbances are varied, complicated and sometimes dangerous. This book offers readers a look into what really goes on in the minds of character disturbed individuals. I think it is helpful for those of us who are more on the neurotic spectrum than the character disturbed spectrum to understand and be able to recognize when we are dealing with a disturbed character. I like that the book also provided a small section discussing how important it is to foster and promote strength of character in our kids. I have to add that after reading one review which stated the book was all about justifying racism. I believe that reviewer must have mixed this book up with another. I didn't read one sentence that ever even eluded to race or even gender being a factor in character disturbed individuals. Matter a fact I don't even think race or gender ever was mentioned at all.

[Eleanor Cowan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This important primer explains that in our society, we are trained to be kind, compassionate and understanding - and thus we are culturally primed to make room for the character dis-ordered who very much appreciate the favor. It certainly makes their thievery less complicated.

Easy to read, this book will help you to identify users without blaming yourself for being 'unkind' (before you are robbed blind by those who have an aversion to going to work.)

Eleanor Cowan, author of : A History of a Pedophile's Wife: Memoir of a Canadian Teacher and Writer

[Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book published in 2011 George Simon elaborates on the various types and manifestations of character disturbance which occur in so many individuals in the general population. Simon helps both professionals and lay people to recognize the methods used by character disturbed people to manipulate others into doing what they want. Knowledge is indeed power. My main criticism of this book is that Simon seems a little too sure of himself. He tries to play down his attitude of superiority in the final chapter. I suspect he has been called on his arrogance more than once. I also wish he omitted any references to divine powers. I don't think they are necessary and tend to put some people (like me) off.

[Faith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't finish this book, but I'm putting it to rest. My noble study of character disturbance has become too much rumination. That being said, I think "Wolf In Sheep's Clothing" is the better book. And as others have mentioned, the grumpy old man approach was memorable and unfortunate.