Psychopath Vs. Sociopath

Yes I have had experience with two actually (separate occasions). One I was in business with. It was truly terrible, as I had no idea of all the illegal things he was doing until it was too late.

I did a lot of research on the subject of Psychopath (is born) and sociopath (raised) and I learned the best thing you do is try to disassociate. Get the hell away from them.

If you attempt to get revenge on them, it will backfire, as they only understand attention. So by attempting to do anything that would raise their awareness, you have immediately lost, as they will seek to punish you. With the sociopath you have no idea the damage they are doing, they will always be one step ahead of you. Just get the hell away from them.

Great advice R1. I have a sociopath in my life, work related, who I've been forced to deal with for the past 10 years or so. He's a sneaky POS who carves up and ruines people's lives behind the scenes. I've felt in the last few months I was becoming a target, and recently got confirmation of it. Lucky for me Corona came along, and I'm not working. I think I'm going to use this as part of my exit plan. I'm done dealing with such a menacing tyrant. He's truly nuts. I strongly suspect he's doing some seriously evil things to a certain individual, but of course I don't have proof and honestly don't want to be involved. A psychopath is nuts. A sociopath is a dangerous nut, and potentially a deadly one.

[quote]Did you get revenge?

"Revenge is the concern of those who are at some point or other beaten."

When I was a nurse at Vanderbilt, I worked with a surgeon that was absolutely a psychopath.

R2 Generally the difference between the psychopath and the sociopath is external. Whilst they are the same creature, the psychopath is wired from birth that way, so they are less able to control their behaviour. The sociopath is created from environment, so from a young age they find ways to navigate, as they know what they are.

What is so lethal about the sociopath is you will not suspect a thing. Quite often they can appear very dull almost boring people. However, (from my own experience) I can tell you the gaslighting is terrible. The gaslighting is a key facet of how the sociopath navigates through life. They navigate through life consuming people and moving on. If the sociopath believes you are onto them, they will seek to destroy you. You won't know they are doing it, but you will notice peoples behaviour toward you changing and becoming colder and more distant, as the sociopath very slowly drip feeds poison to them.

Currently sociopaths will be in a very bad way, because the sociopath could not survive in self isolation. They need people around them constantly to manipulate. Without constant access they cannot drip feed.

R4 Sociopaths and Psychopaths make outstanding surgeons. Because they lack all forms of human empathy, they are able to deal with human bodies like a mechanic can deal with a car. They don't feel any attachment or feelings for their patients, which makes conducing surgery so easy for them. Their arrogance and vanity would want to make them heal the patient, not any care for the patient. In actual fact, they wouldn't think twice about cutting through a patients heart valve and letting him die, if it looked like the operation might take another hour, and they have tickets for the opera at 8pm!

Also, a vast amount of successful lawyers are full blow sociopaths and psychopaths. Similarly, ridiculous amounts of people who succeed in Hollywood (be it actor, director, casting agent, producer etc) are sociopathic or psychopathic. Because it's such a coveted industry to be in, sociopaths and psychopaths have what it takes to literally keep befriending people then stabbing them in the back and stepping over them.

However, a key thing you must always understand about the sociopath or the psychopath is just because they have these traits, it doesn't make them clever. In fact, because they lack key human emotions, they can actually be incredibly stupid. They will behave in ways that seem transparent and obvious, but they don't have a notion how obvious they look, because they lack the emotion of awareness.

Psychopaths at work i.e. workplace bullies. Just ended up doing work from home until one day he showed up at my house to "make me go to work" so he could bully me more. Their shit company went bankrupt so I never have to deal with him and his psychopath family again.

There was a great datalounge discussion on this, months ago.

Here, OP.

I think a lot of people have sociopathic behavior nowadays, I don’t think it’s just black & white. It’s spreading like a virus. Social Media is making everyone more disconnected and sees people as their image rather than as a human. Look at the Kartrashians and how they’ve become idolized, fake everything. In the last 20 years I’ve seen a lot of people change drastically from kind people to exhibit some of the “symptoms” listed. Society is more soulless and cutthroat than ever before and people’s kindness is very fake now. People who you think are “crazy” just because they get angry etc every so often are usually not that bad, they just have normal emotions. The scariest fucking people are the ones who exhibit perfect behavior all the time and do things behind the scenes. I’ve had two female family members like that and a slew of coworkers. I would say it’s getting worse in women specifically and they’ll all gang up together if they have a mutual target until they defeat that person. Men usually have to go it on their own with this behavior, women will become a pack of wolves together. There’s a reason for the old saying “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”

Trump is the sickest person I have ever encountered. As. Far as I can tell, he has absolutely no redeeming qualities. Not of personality, nor character. I don’t think I could say that with any certainty about anyone else.

R6 I remember reading some really good blog post or article years ago about Taylor Swift being a sociopath. I think she is one and manages to con a lot of people into thinking that she is some sweet girl. During her fight with Scooter Braun, I saw it as fight between two sociopaths and Taylor didn't win that fight.

Psychopaths tend to stay in their lane and (like others have already mentioned) can be highly competent surgeons or CEOs, the most intelligent of them using their lack of empathy and sharklike focus to their advantage. Sociopaths tend to be disorganized, compulsive liars and criminals who can’t spend a single day being honest. Both types usually have heavily narcissistic traits and are oversensitive to criticism.

I’ve noticed most people labelled as psychopaths are male, but many women along with men have anti-social personality disorder. I was a witness in 2 different investigations of female healthcare workers who conned elderly dementia patients. These nurses were (superficially) generous to a fault, but once they had the target’s confidence, they’d go in for the kill. Both women had martyr complexes and used guilt and shame to manipulate their victims.

This is why every time I meet someone who acts like Mother Theresa, I quickly get the hell away from them.

[quote]Sociopaths tend to be disorganized, compulsive liars and criminals who can’t spend a single day being honest. Both types usually have heavily narcissistic traits and are oversensitive to criticism.

I have a friend who has described her late mother as compulsive lying sociopath.

[quote] Sociopaths and Psychopaths make outstanding surgeons. Because they lack all forms of human empathy, they are able to deal with human bodies like a mechanic can deal with a car. They don't feel any attachment or feelings for their patients, which makes conducing surgery so easy for them. Their arrogance and vanity would want to make them heal the patient, not any care for the patient. In actual fact, they wouldn't think twice about cutting through a patients heart valve and letting him die, if it looked like the operation might take another hour, and they have tickets for the opera at 8pm!

MARY!

SO. MUCH. DRAMA!!!

[quote] Sociopaths tend to be disorganized, compulsive liars and criminals who can’t spend a single day being honest. Both types usually have heavily narcissistic traits and are oversensitive to criticism.

That describes Trump.

I thought autistic and Asperger's people made good surgeons.

Have you been watching The Good Doctor, R17?

Who are these freaks on the intertubes who self-identify as experts in psychopathology and sociopaths? It seems to be fetish, almost. Many of the stories are repetitive and reek of shopbottom miseries.

^^R19 Hi, Ellen!

NPD - low empathy, low anxiety, low emotional range.

sociopath- no empathy, higher anxiety, low emotional range

psychopath- no empathy, no anxiety, no emotions.

Forensic psychiatrists in the Netherlands have had some success treating criminals with antisocial personality disorder (formerly known as psychopathy). Imagine if these disorders were to become manageable one day. Of course, a true psychopath would never voluntarily seek treatment, but some violent Dutch criminals are ordered to undergo it after a court has issued something called "detention under hospital orders."

How is it that even psychopathic criminals with low IQs can sometimes successfully convince their psychiatrists, psychologists and other experts that they are no longer a danger?

Personality disorders are developed from psychological harm to a child in his formative years. Especially the dark triad whuch is narcissism, sociopathy and machiavelianism. So if you are growing up being told by society that you are defective because you are gay ...guess what happens? You learn to center your own needs and to manipulate others perceptions, you become hyper sensitive to abandonment or you shut down emotion. I've known the absolute sweetest twinks slip a mask and make the hairs on my neck stand. Frankly the reason the most chilling movie villains have been played by gay guys (the original actor in Hitchcocks Psycho, Spacey and even Travolta etc) is because the audience is picking up on that dark triad shit lurking behind the mask.

And yeah, I would be pissed as fuck if a straight person said it on the news but the fact is we probably have the highest representation of the dark triad traits. Followed closely by black people decended from slaves. The more oppressed you are, the more your personality adapts dark triad traits.

R24 That comment alone demonstrates a shocking lack of self awareness! It is like you yourself are identifying as Sociopathic.

All personality disorders are NOT developed from psychological harm as a child in their formative years. The general difference between a 'psychopath' and a 'sociopath' is a psychopath is neurologically wired from birth and sociopath is the product of environmental harm in childhood.

I actually cannot believe you said black people descended from slaves are also sociopathic, but not as much so as gay people! If you are such an expert on the Dark Triad you will know there are plenty of straight, white men and women who show all these traits.

Your argument is, because a gay man must have been regarded as an effeminate boy and not accepted by peers or even family members, it turns them into sociopathic film style villains. Similarly, because some countries have black people who were descended from slaves generations ago, this has somehow caused them great trauma as a child and resulted in them becoming sociopathic adults too?

Thank you, r25. You saved me the trouble. That comment was stunningly stupid.

I told you at R19 about these twats, such as R24. It's a fetish. "Dark Triad" huh? Such high camp!

How many people on DL consider themselves sociopaths? My best friend(We've known each other decades) told me I've done stuff that would mortify others. Even if I say I'm mortified by my actions I'm really not. I'm incredibly selfish and it's my way or the highway. Of course I am very alone but so are a lot of people.

R25 I love it when the armchair psychologists who read a couple of articles on Psychology Todays blog show up. Dahling! Pull up a chair. Firstly, the DSM doesn't distinguish between sociopathy and psychopathy. There's only one diagnosis - Anti Social Personality Disorder. Within that diagnosis theres factor 1 and factor 2 which I guess pedestrian observers think of as psychopathy and sociopathy. Psychopathy is a movie term dear. The distinction fyi is SOLELY about presentation. It has absolutely nothing to do with how the disorder formed. This born-that-way theory is a highly contested one among academics and has never been officially acknowledged. But go off, girl.

Cluster B disorders are broadly accepted as bio-psycho-social in origin. Meaning that your biology may predispose you to this maladaptive response to psychological and sociological factors you face in your formative years. In other words, your baby didn't come out evil, you fucked up.

I'll be back, you ignorant bitches.

Oh look at little r29, the answer to a question no one asked.

These freaks are too invested and too dumb to ask the question.

I've dealt with three psychopaths that I know of (probably there have been many more that I didn't pick up on). All three were male and smart, so no need for violence -- they did their damage without getting their hands dirty. No recognizable childhood trauma for any of them, either -- just born stone cold and manipulative.

The mask does drop sometimes, and usually it's because they have no sense of shame (that's one of the emotions they lack). They'll flat-out admit to things that shame or embarrassment would cause normal people to hide.

I've learned to run a mile when I sense someone like this.

About Cluster B personality disorders not much is known scientifically. Both how to measure and study these people with these disorders, and also how to treat it effectively. This is why there are so many bogus and pseudo-psychology (pop psychology) you tube videos and blogs about it.

Also, Empathetic parenting, teaching and childhood educational programs (sesame street to Roots and Chutes) are severely underfunded. These programs increase empathy. You can see these programs as prevention of these serious personality disorder (lack of empathy).

As always with these threads, it's just become a list of "people who behaved in a way I didn't like".

Psychopathy and sociopathy are so rare it's highly unlikely you've ever met anyone with either. Grow up.

Secondly, R25. I intentionally steered away from personality disorders and focused on the dark triad for a reason. This shit runs on a spectrum. A large proportion of the population exhibit these traits but don't rise to clinical levels. In other words, the traits aren't severe enough or disruptive enough to qualify as symptoms. Got it, now?

OK so back to the sub clinical types. You only need to spend time on DL to see the dark triad is alive and well here. And no, this is not just about fem gays being bullied. Gay kids in general learning the best survival strategies in a society that casts them as outsiders will pick up these type of traits. Look out only for yourself but hide it, expect to be screwed over so strike first, lie, lie, lie etc.

Finally, people who are decended from slaves are not only living with present day discrimination. When you have a person who was owned and abused their entire life time rasing a child and that child grows up to raise another child and on and on, you WILL have passed down traumas. Go have a look at the household statistics around American decendents of slaves versus African immigrants. Guess which group is more likely to have a father in the home or which one is less likely to have a violent criminal background in the home? It's indisputable that psychological damage was passed on through generations and then compounded by other shit. It's a proven fact that the best way to solve ghetto violence is to build a mentor systems that essentially substitute for dark triad parents. The sooner you get those kids around less damaged humans, the less damaged they grow up.

Tldr: Dark triads aren't born that way, they are turned that way (pre-age 7 we believe)

Agree, R34. An ex lover or a boss who promoted the fat frau they hate over them is the 'narcissist' and/or 'sociopath' in hiding. Pathetic.

I think 'sociopaths' are 'made', but are still set up for it genetically. With the right childhood experiences and resources, they develop a personal 'code' that approximates a conscience. It's purely utilitarian, but ultimately produces more or less the same outcome. Simply put, they'll (usually) do the right thing, for technically the 'wrong' reason. Being comfortably middle-class, kept away from drugs & "the wrong crowd", and having high-functioning parents is a major factor as well. It doesn't take much to tip them over to 'the dark side' in childhood, especially if they feel like they 'have' to lie/cheat/steal just to survive.

IMHO, one effective early intervention is a positive experience with a pet. Cruelty to animals is an early warning, so if you can get them to bond with an animal & grasp that it's a living being who cares about THEM, they'll eventually start to develop feelings for IT as well that, if things go well, will (by their teens) extend to other animals of the same species, then other pet animals, then other similar animals.

Teaching them how to emulate empathy via animals is easier than with other kids, because it only takes one other kid calling them a 'freak' to undo years of emotional growth. Pets are more reliable.

IMHO, a 'sociopath' is close to what you'd expect a hypothetical "extrovert on the autism spectrum" to look like... and a major part of that neurosis would come from the experience of living with two frankly contradictory impulses. Perhaps it arises in a chimeric way if one side of the brain ends up "wired" for mild autism, while the other side ends up "wired" for extroversion. Literally every impulse would stress out the other half & leave them in a perpetual state of unresolved tension.

Wha-ev

Psychopaths are sort of like the Boogeyman now, aren't they?

A lot of us use “psychopath” and “sociopath” as colloquial terms. Maybe the ever-evolving and confusing DSM is more precise (until it changes again), but there’s little time for the layperson to consult it during a sudden encounter with a potentially dangerous person.

[quote]Have you been watching The Good Doctor, [R17]?

I'm not R17. But I've wondered if it's possible for someone with Aspergers or autism to be a successful physician or surgeon. I have seen some autism and asperger's sites slam The Good Doctor for how the character is portrayed and I remember when Elementary had an aspie character in several episodes there was complaints on disability sites and blogs.

[quote]Have you been watching The Good Doctor, [R17]?

I'm not R17. But I've wondered if it's possible for someone with Aspergers or autism to be a successful physician or surgeon. I have seen some autism and asperger's sites slam The Good Doctor for how the character is portrayed and I remember when Elementary had an aspie character in several episodes there was complaints on disability sites and blogs.

reply 21 nailed the differences between sociopath, psychopathy, and aspd better than Ive ever seen anybody do it. I only have experience with a sociopath. His career had been in sales. He wasnt high on the spectrum of ripping people off so much economically, it was more his interpersonal relationships that were very very anti social. Throw in another kink in his behavior, he was a self hating gay.

It was a romantic situation of course. He was very good looking and seemingly charming and social to the extreme at first glance. However if you got to know him even slightly he was so superficial it just jumped off the page.....he would and did lie constantly even when there was no reason. He had zero empathy, almost zero remorse, etc. Throw in a born again holy roller type of southern baptist deep south upbringing and it was a recipe for disastor. I wasted several years on the situation as his charm and looks and body overrode everything.

He eventually went born again and married a nut job woman. Mind you he had never shown the least bit of attraction to women in all the years I knew him and was sleeping with men even as a teenager. There is no cure to sociopathy, you have to be strong enuf to run the other way. I wasnt, but it really only cost me a couple of years of mostly misery.