Surrounded by Psychopaths

Psychology

Print length: 256 pagesEbury Publishing, 2020

Description

Thomas Erikson’s Omgiven av Psykopater applies the four-color communication framework associated with his earlier work to the subject of manipulation. Using red, yellow, green, and blue as broad labels for behavioral styles, Erikson considers how a calculating person might tailor pressure, charm, or deception to different targets. He discusses warning signs, boundary setting, and ways readers can respond more deliberately in workplaces, relationships, and everyday encounters. The book is written as an accessible popular guide, not as a clinical diagnostic manual; its use of “psychopath” belongs to the author’s framing and should not be read as a professional assessment of particular people.

Reading profile

About this profile

Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).

Writing: How much attention the sentences and language require.
Ideas: How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
Structure: How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
Background knowledge: Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
Emotional intensity: Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.

Writing style

Conversational · Direct

Pace

Moderate

Tone

Cerebral · Earnest · Tense

Structure

Argumentative

Focus

Ideas · Information · Relationships

Emotional intensity

3 / 5

Reading complexity

1–5 · higher means more demanding

Writing: 2 / 5
Ideas: 2 / 5
Structure: 2 / 5
Background knowledge: 1 / 5

Themes

IdentityMental healthMoralityOppressionPower

About Thomas Erikson

Thomas Erikson is a Swedish author whose career spans crime fiction and bestselling popular psychology, though he is chiefly associated with the Surrounded By series. His nonfiction converts interpersonal friction into clear behavioral categories and practical choices. In Surrounded by Idiots, he uses the DISC assessment to sort communication styles into four colors, then works through how each style speaks, decides, and responds to pressure. The prose moves briskly between explanation, recognizable scenarios, and direct advice about adapting language or setting expectations. Later books retain that structure while concentrating on more charged forms of conflict. Surrounded by Psychopaths and Surrounded by Narcissists examine manipulation and self-centered behavior through examples, warning signs, and boundary-setting strategies, while treating the color system as a conversational framework rather than a clinical diagnosis. Workplace relationships provide another recurring setting, with Surrounded by Bad Bosses focusing on confused instructions, mismatched motivations, and the limited responses available to employees. Erikson began in crime fiction with Bländverk, indicating a broader narrative career behind the practical guides.

Series

The Surrounded by Idiots

Surrounded by Idiots Open Library

Book details

For the print edition listed above.

Publisher: Ebury Publishing
Language: English
ISBN: 9781785043321

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