Expert shares terrifying reason some people fall in love with psychopaths

A forensic psychiatrist has revealed the chilling reason some people are attracted to psychopaths.

Dr Sohom Das works with individuals who have committed violent crimes and are suspected of having mental illnesses - one particular client murdered his own mom before attempting to wear her skin as a suit.

It's fair to say he knows a thing or two about psychopaths - while notably pointing out that not everyone who lives with the condition goes on to murder people, as the Brit estimates as many as one in 20 CEOs would tick all the boxes.

Now, when asked by LADbible Group if he could explain why women fall in love with serial killers.

Das replied: "Well, first of all, there's a term for it. So we psychiatrists, we like to sound cleverer than we actually are - we call it hybristophilia.

Charles Manson married Afton Elaine Burton in 2014 - 45 years after ordering the killing of eight-month pregnant actor Sharon Tate (CNN)

"I think the vast majority of times it's because the women themselves are actually quite damaged. So they've come from abusive relationships, whether it's their own upbringing or whether it's romantic partners. So they've been the victims of domestic violence and they gravitate towards what is familiar rather than gravitating towards what is safe.

"But, and here's the twist, they try and find relationships where they can be in control. So if you are in a relationship with a serial killer, a murderer, you get to control the visits, you get to control the communications, you know that he's not off gallivanting and cheating on you."

He continued: "So, I think that's part of the motivation. But I also think there's some that have this like saviour complex.

"So, for whatever reason - maybe they weren't nurtured enough when they were children, so they try and project their own deficiencies onto somebody else... and there isn't much more of a saviour complex than trying to rehabilitate, like, a serial killer."

Yes, the phenomenon does happen. Ted Bundy married Carole Ann Boone while incarcerated - although the pair were dating for six years prior.

Then there's Charles Manson, the cult leader of the infamous 'Manson Family' who killed nine people in 1969.

In August of that year, Manson ordered his followers to go to a house in Los Angeles and kill everyone inside it 'as gruesome[ly] as you can' - an eight-month pregnant Sharon Tate was murdered alongside four others.

Fast-forward 45 years, he got hitched to Afton Elaine Burton a 26-year-old who was running his social media accounts.