Learn how to spot —
and avoid — psychopaths.

Born to Destroy

Born to Destroy is essential reading for anyone interested in psychopathy, especially how it manifests in females. It provides a boots on the ground perspective of living with psychopathic individuals, as well as a bird’s eye view from a person who survived this ordeal, and integrated these experiences with contemporary clinical research on psychopathy.

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Winifred Rule

Winifred Rule is a member of the Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy and author of Born to Destroy, the first instructional work on the female psychopath, based on her experiences and lessons learned from living with two psychopaths. Her work has been featured in libraries and curricula of major universities in the United States and abroad. Born to Destroy was accepted into the collections of Columbia University and the Leninka Library, Russia’s Library of Congress, to assist psychiatrists, researchers and lay people to better understand the impact of psychopaths in everyday life.

  • "Winifred Rule’s Born to Destroy, the story of her psychopathic mother and psychopathic sister, is not only a masterful fusion of intimate memoir, scholarly commentary, and compelling narrative, it is a literary achievement, a tour de force. I don’t recall ever reading a personal history related to the psychopathy of others, much less one that so vividly dramatizes the bewilderment and pain of growing up in a family dominated by such perverse egos. Among the wonders of this instructive tale is the ultimate triumph over the cruelty and evil of her mother and sister by the author who eventually is able to share support, love, and trust with her own husband and children."

    – Sidney Offit, Author; Curator Emeritus, George Polk Awards; Member of the Faculty, New School University and Hunter College

  • "Born to Destroy by Winifred Rule belongs on the bookshelf of every clinical psychologist and psychotherapist who deals with families and the abusive dynamics that plague them. Masterfully written, it is the true life story of Wini and her psychopathic mother, a woman who abused her daughter from early childhood through her marriage to a loving, decent man, through the birth of grandchildren and beyond. To survive the parentage of a psychopath is a stellar achievement. Born to Destroy is proof that Wini has not only survived, but triumphed."

    – Paul Babiak, Ph.D., author of Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work. His work has been featured in countless news and media outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, and Harvard Business Review

  • "This book is a compelling and unforgettable reminder that not all psychopaths are men. The female psychopath walks among us. She may charm like a songbird, but will sting like a scorpion."

    – J. Reid Meloy, Ph.D., author of The Psychopathic Mind; Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego

Book Signing at St. Petersburg Bookstore

Dinner with Psychopathy Researchers

Presentation to Nurses Association