There is a difference between a sociopath and a psychopath.
Sociopath:
a person with a personality disorder manifesting itself in extreme antisocial attitudes and behavior and a lack of conscience.
Psychopath:
a person suffering from chronic mental disorder with abnormal or violent social behavior.
I've known people that are both.
You won’t find the definitions in mental health’s official handbook, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Doctors don’t officially diagnose people as psychopaths or sociopaths. They use a different term instead: antisocial personality disorder.
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SOURCE http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/sociopath-psychopath-difference#1
just because a person is mean or selfish, it doesn’t necessarily mean he/she has a disorder.
People with mental disorders are not that way by a choice. They think in ways that are not within the society norm.
If you think about sanity and what constitutes sanity in society you will find that sanity is defined by the agreement of like minds. Every society has their own versions of sanity and insanity.
Sanity for the planet-wide society is one thing.
Sanity for the cultural society is another thing.
Sanity for a nation is yet another thing.
Sanity for a religious group still yet another thing.
Sanity is also defined within the family society
and is specific all the way to the society of two people.
Those defining traits that unify sanity have different specifics and degrees of depth. While there are similarities there are also differences.
Someone that exists outside the deemed sanity of a society is labeled insane. Insanity that is unique to a small society like a family may be considered sane within that group but insane according to the nation or religion. Everyone has a bit of insanity at the personal level. It is only when that insanity affects their ability to function themselves or in the larger societies that their insanity becomes an issue.
While you can accept others insanity you do not have to engage it. People that operate outside your sanity comfort zone do not normally become your friends. If you do, you experience conflict.
Accepting others doesn't mean you adopt their traits or agree with their insanity, it only means that you accept that they are them. I can accept you but still may not want to be close to you.
Of the 7 traits that are listed all may be considered sane depending upon which society is assessing them. No one person exhibits all traits listed all the time.
Compulsion:
an irresistible urge to behave in a certain way, especially against one's conscious wishes.
Everyone suffers from some kind of compulsion. Most of the time it doesn't affect our societal entanglements. Often, we are not even aware of the compulsion.
My X is a compulsive liar. Her entire world is built around and reinforced by lies and delusions she readily accepts as reality. When she tells a lie, she actually believes it. Its not something she does on purpose.
I have a degree of emotional detachment. I do not allow myself to become emotional over things that are out of my control. It is a conscious effort.
As a result of my own emotional discipline, I compulsively retreat from others emotional outbursts. It has antisocial ramifications because I don't sit and wallow in self-pity with others and refuse to participate in their emotional roller-coaster rides. The result is less stress in my personal life.
There is a difference between respecting and admiring yourself. Understanding yourself is vital to your personality. There should be nobody more important to you than yourself. Loving yourself is not a bad thing but if it gets in the way of your ability to function within a society then it becomes an issue.
Reckless attitude is another of those traits that are defined by perspective. What might be reckless to some could be conservative to others.
I know many people that have anger control issues. You can find anger management counseling in nearly all levels of society. Anger is an emotional expression and is normal. How you handle that anger is a personal method that is learned or adopted. Emotional maturity and control allows anger to manifest and pass without serious issues. Not all people that express anger are sociopaths.
Manipulation is normal. Everyone manipulates others in some way. It is a basic function of society. Society is the manipulation of others to gain a unified result. Number 6 should read - 6. Antisocial Manipulation
The act of manipulating others to destroy unity and harmony in the society.
Friendships come and go. Friendships are the smallest society. A society of two. As that small society experience life and gain wisdom individually their similarities that unify them decrease. When the unity of the society is no longer tenable the friendship dissolves. Clinging to a friendship that is no longer in unity is a compulsive trait.
Sanity is based on perspective. It changes as society changes, look at history and it is plain to see.
Edit to repair the coding error for WebMD source link. WebMD will not accept the direct link unless it is copied and pasted into the browser url search. Curious?
Edited by
Tom4Uhere
on Thu 03/30/17 07:42 AM
