Dr. David: “Both traits are suspicious signs of a psychopathic personality.”

I had an old classmate who claimed to have an illness that didn't make him angry or stressed. Could this really be true?

As far as I know, there is no physical disease that can make a person lack the capacity for anger or nervousness, but I am humble about it, because in fact there are a large number of diseases that are very rare and impossible to cure. Track them all. For example, there is a genetic condition known as hereditary sensory autonomic neuropathy type V, which results in a significant reduction in the sufferer's ability to sense pain, heat, and cold. It may seem like a good thing, but the condition is life-threatening, because it is important for our survival to be able to sense things that may be harmful.

The reason why a person does not feel stressed or angry is rather found in the structure of the personality. Like almost all personality traits, it is at least 50 percent hereditary. This does not mean that external factors have no effect. Of course, for example, repetition leads to a certain dullness in many people. The more times you experience a phenomenon, the less nervous you become. The more you tell yourself that provocations don't matter, the easier it will be to ignore them.

As always, the culture you grow up in also plays a big role – at least when it comes to emotional expression. If you grow up in an environment where you are not expected to show your emotions, you will become better at hiding them. Maybe it's so good that in the end you don't feel anything at all.

Human characteristics are distributed across a population based on a normal distribution curve with the most extreme variables being the most eccentric and the majority falling in the middle. Therefore, most people feel a little nervous and angry. Which is lucky, because the most common reason for a complete lack of nervousness that I know of is that you absolutely fail at everything. Or maybe you have an inflated self-image. Both traits are suspected signs of a psychopathic personality.