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What's The Difference Between A Sociopath And A Psychopath?

Today, the terms 'psychopath' and 'sociopath' are used interchangeably, yet in recent years, the difference between 'psychopath' and 'sociopath' has become as widely pronounced as the scientific difference between shell-shocked and PTSD- which is to say, it's massive.

Mental illness-speak is rarely politically correct. While 'psychopath' and 'sociopath' share many common traits, the parts that differ are critical to understanding their distinction.

Why The Difference Matters- It's important to keep in mind that mental disorders arise for a number of reasons. Sociopathy, while severely the less understood of the two disorders, can be congenital or acquired. Psychopathy, meanwhile, is generally considered a confluence of genetic and chemical imbalances. Psychopaths lack the proper neurological frameworks to develop a sense of ethics and morality. Sociopaths interact with their social worlds in a meaningful way, but their moral compasses need a massive tune up- like, yesterday.

Science now understands why the distinction is crucial to properly understanding psychopathy and sociopathy. It's a distinction that could mean the difference between allocating resources to rehabilitate the person's mental health, and locking them up forever. But what is it?

What Is The Difference- Psychologists tend to break down the two groups by certain factors, and they have a lot in common. Both tend to be charming, despite being unable to empathize normally with others. They offer convincing systems of fear and disgust, but tend to lack both. Here's the crux, though: psychopaths cross the line. Sociopaths may hole up in their houses and remove themselves from society, while a psychopath is busy in his basement rigging shackles to his furnace.

Psychopaths are dangerous. They're violent and cruel, and oftentimes downright sinister. They show no remorse for their actions, usually because of a lesion on a part of their brain responsible for fear and judgment, known as the amygdala. Psychopaths commit crimes in cold blood. They crave control and impulsivity, possess a predatory instinct, and attack proactively rather than as a reaction to confrontation; a 2002 study found that 93.3% of the psychopathic homicides were instrumental in nature (more or less planned), compared with the 48.4% of the homicides by non-psychopaths.

Sociopaths are a different breed. They, too, may suffer from their mental illness as a result of lesioned brain regions. Upbringing may also play a larger role in a child becoming a sociopath versus those that are diagnosed as psychopaths, or the slide into dementia on the other end of the spectrum. Sociopathic behavior is manifested as conniving and deceitful, despite an outward appearance of trustworthiness or sincerity. Sociopaths are often pathological liars. They are manipulative and lack the ability to judge the morality of a situation, but not because they lack a moral compass; rather, their existing moral compass is greatly (yet not always dangerously) skewed. It's said that this could point to both a social and neurological component.

While psychopathy and sociopathy both likely involve impaired cognitive function, the two differ in which circuits are affected. Psychopaths are fearless; sociopaths aren't. Psychopaths don't have a sense of right and wrong; sociopaths do. But both are equally capable of ruining lives and destroying relationships- not that they care.

Source: {http://www.medicaldaily.com/what's-difference-between-sociopath-and-psychopath-not-much-one-might-kill-you-270694}