What is the difference between sociopathy and psychopathy?

Hello friends!

Today we will talk about the difference between sociopaths and psychopaths, as well as their similarities. Well, the first similarity that we can notice is the suffix pathy, which comes from latin pathos. I always found this Latin word very interesting, which gave rise to words with such distant meanings as passion, suffering, illness (pathos in pathology). In the case of sociopathy and psychopathy, pathos it has the meaning of illness.

The two diseases are considered by psychiatry as antisocial personality disorders. In psychiatry, an old question is always present. When asking the cause of a mental illness, psychiatrists from the beginning of their specialty questioned whether the origin should be sought in biology (genetics) or in the influence of the environment.

Although it is not yet an established fact, researchers tend to consider that psychopathy is genetic, while sociopathy is caused not only by genetics, hereditary predisposition, but also that the influence of the environment is fundamental for its development.

What is the difference between a sociopath and a psychopath?

A psychopath is already born with a well-defined temperament: he is impulsive, has a lack of fear that leads to risk-seeking behavior and, above all, has a great inability to internalize social norms. A sociopath has a temperament close to that of the common individual, his illness being caused more by negative factors in socialization such as parental negligence, extreme poverty. A sociopath can have extremely high or extremely low IQ (intelligence quotient).

What brings the two mental illnesses together is that they are both antisocial personality disorders, and they can result in acts of violence that can be horrific like murder with exquisite cruelty.

Box on the differences between sociopathy and psychopathy

PSYCHOPATHY

Predisposition to violence – High

Impulsivity – High

Behavior – Erratic

Criminal Behavior – Leaves clues by being impulsive

Criminal predisposition – Tendency to crimes of passion or impulsiveness

Social Relationships – Difficulty maintaining relationships

SOCIOPATHY

Predisposition to violence – Varied

Impulsivity – Varied

Behavior – Controlled

Criminal Behavior – Tendency to calculate your actions in order not to leave clues

Criminal predisposition – Tendency to premeditated crimes

Social Relationships – Tendency to appear normal in a relationship

Relationships in psychopathy and sociopathy

In general, psychopaths live outside society, as they are mentally disorganized and incapable of maintaining a stable relationship with anyone, be it family, friends or co-workers. Unlike psychopaths, sociopaths present themselves as normal and stable in their relationships, and it is not uncommon for them to have relationships that are symbiotic or parasitic. A sociopath will thus appear to others to lead an ordinary life, blending in with society. In fact, they can be quite charming.

Job

Given the above characteristics, we can see that psychopaths will hardly be able to maintain stability in their professional career. Sociopaths, on the contrary, will succeed and will try to get others to like and trust them. The difference, in this regard, lies in the fact that psychopaths do not have emotions like normal people (due to an anomalous function in the region of the limbic system, responsible for emotions and empathy). Sociopaths are also incapable of feeling emotions like an ordinary individual, however, he can understand their meaning, which a psychopath cannot.

violent tendencies

Acts of violence provoked by a psychopath are outbursts of violence and are always erratic and unplanned. Thus, in a crime, they are usually found because they leave clues and traces that allow the expert to prove guilt.

A sociopath, on the other hand, may plan his crime or act of violence years in advance. Your motivation could be revenge or greed. As these are meticulously planned acts, they may not leave a trace that would lead to formal prosecution or arrest.

Conclusion

In the text I wrote about ADHD being a lie, I argue that all mental illness is a construct. In other words, they are useful for professionals working in the area to guide themselves regarding antisocial behavior (in the case of sociopathy and psychopathy) or other types of behavior that lead to suffering for the individual or society.

In the case of sociopathy and antipathy, what is most interesting is the new neuroscience research on the limbic system. The limbic system, formed by the amygdala and hypothalamus, is responsible for processing emotions. In both diseases we see that the absence of emotions represents the core of the problem.

For some decades now, the limbic system has been studied as an important area for understanding emotions. For example, individuals who suffer some type of brain damage in the amygdala or hypothalamus region, from one moment to another, begin to present antisocial behaviors.

Sociopathy and psychopathy are two diseases that draw a lot of attention from the general public because they are diseases that appear in the media through the crimes of their carriers. For criminal psychology experts, in many cases, it can be difficult to establish the subject’s responsibility for his actions, although in most cases, sociopathic and psychopathic criminals are found guilty and arrested (when there is evidence).

However, if we think about the cerebral and even social causes of these two diseases, we can better understand how it is not so much a question of guilt (although it continues to be a problem when it becomes a crime) but of diseases.

To conclude, we must mention the treatments that are performed today. Basically, the treatments are through therapy and medications. Specialists working in this area generally do not distinguish so much whether it is sociopathy or psychopathy, but treat both manifestations as antisocial personality disorder. The differential diagnosis of sociopathy or psychopathy will be based on whether the condition was caused by environmental influences (such as child abuse) or not.

Symptoms begin to appear, on average, from the age of fifteen: cruelty to animals, lack of conscience, remorse or guilt for antisocial acts. The subject may even understand the social norm, but there is no emotional response to the consequences of the actions themselves.

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