Personality disorders cause very problematic behavior issues in adults and young children. It is important to be able to identify character traits of personality disorders so that you can help a person or yourself seek treatment. Sociopath and psychopaths are the two most common types of personality disorders. They are similar in many ways but are also very different.
Things To Know About Sociopaths
1. Overview
A sociopath is a term used for antisocial personality disorder. It is defined as a mental health condition that causes a person to have a long term pattern of manipulating and exploiting other people. It is one of the most recognized mental health conditions in the world.
2. Traits
There are many hallmark symptoms of a sociopath. They may display all of just a few of these characteristics.
Disregard for the feelings of others
Consistently unreliable
History of aggression
Impulsiveness
Disregard of others safety
Unable to love or accept love
Lack of guilt or remorse
Fake charm or intelligence
Overly paranoid
Infidelity/Sexual promiscuity
3. Cause
The exact cause of someone becoming a sociopath is unclear but many factors may come into play. Their upbringing often has a lot to do with it. A large percentage of people that are sociopaths where brought up with abusive or alcoholic parents. A lack of parents may also have an impact.
4. Treatment
The biggest hurdle in treating sociopaths is the person realizing they have a mental disorder. Many of these people have a very inflated sense of self confidence and may believe the problem is with everyone else. Therapy is a very effective form of treatment for treating a sociopath, it can help them recognize their behaviors. Some anti psychotic medications may also be prescribed for sociopaths.
Important Facts About Psychopaths
1. Overview
A psychopathy is a personality disorder that has many different traits associated with it. This disorder can affect anyone and can be identified in even very young children. This term is most commonly used in the criminal justice system.
2. Characteristics
Some traits to look out for when identifying a psychopath are
Absence of anxiety
Antisocial behavior
Lack of insight
Superficial charm
Ingratitude for any type of kindness
Large sense of self worth
Pathological Lying
Impulsiveness
Promiscuous sexual behavior
Homicidal thoughts or actions
High amount of short term relationships
3. Risks
A person who is classified as a psychopath can be potentially dangerous. They completely disregard the feelings and safety of other people. Many psychopaths go on to commit murder at some point in their life. Identifying and using caution around a psychopath is very important.
4. Treatment
Therapy and anti psychotic drugs are the best types of treatments available for someone that has psychopathic personality disorder. Therapy is aimed at helping to recognize the cause for the behavior and how to manage it.
Differences Between A Sociopath and Psychopath
1. Relationships
A big difference between a sociopath and a psychopath is their relationships with other people. Both have disregard for feelings of other human beings but psychopaths can literally not form a meaningful relationship. They lack the capacity to feel empathy or emotion towards another person.
2. Crimes
The rate of crimes committed by sociopaths and psychopaths is high, but the way these crimes are brought out are very different. Sociopaths are very impulsive and do not think of consequences. They do things without thinking about them at all. Psychopaths, however, pay very close attention to detail. They plan out every single step of the crime they are committing.
3. Cause
Psychopathy is often genetic and runs in families. Sociopath is very different because it is caused by trauma in early life, such as abusive parents.