Sociopath/Psychopath

nacho libre

Are these in effect the same thing or is there a seperate psychological definitions for each? Could anyone explain the difference- in laymans terms- if there is a difference. Thank you.

Odysseus

My understanding is that they are the same disorder, gerenerally referred to as Disocial Personality Disorder in the ICD-10 and Anti-Social Personality Disorder in the DSM.

nacho libre

Thank you for replying!
One further question if i may:
Are most people diagnosed as psychopaths considered not to be mentally ill?

RE*AC*TOR

One train of thought is that a sociopath lacks planning in his actions, unlike a psychopath who is careful and precise. A psychopath will often appear to be a nice character, hiding his / her true motives beneath. A sociopath acts without regard for the consequences.

(this the result of about 30 seconds of googling).

Gibs

nacho libre wrote:

Thank you for replying!
One further question if i may:
Are most people diagnosed as psychopaths considered not to be mentally ill?

Interesting question....
Robert Hare, the pre-eminent researcher in the area says that the shortest chapter in any book on psycopathy should be the one on treatment.:rolleyes:

I suppose one might consider it a matter of definition and/or social construction, but if there is no treatment and no (current) likelihood of a treatment emerging, maybe it shouldn't be defined as a mental illness?

This is a great article on the whole subject. I've copied a relevant quote from it below, but the rest of the article is well worth a read too.



.....several studies have shown that existing treatment makes criminal psychopaths worse. In one, psychopaths who underwent social-skills and anger-management training before release had an 82 percent reconviction rate. Psychopaths who didn't take the program had a 59 percent reconviction rate. Conventional psychotherapy starts with the assumption that a patient wants to change, but psychopaths are usually perfectly happy as they are. They enrol in such programs to improve their chances of parole. "These guys learn the words but not the music," Hare says. "They can repeat all the psychiatric jargon -- 'I feel remorse,' they talk about the offence cycle -- but these are words, hollow words."

Hare has co-developed a new treatment program specifically for violent psychopaths, using what he knows about the psychopathic personality. The idea is to encourage them to be better by appealing not to their (non-existent) altruism but to their (abundant) self-interest.

"It's not designed to change personality, but to modify behaviour by, among other things, convincing them that there are ways they can get what they want without harming others," Hare explains. The program will try to make them understand that violence is bad, not for society, but for the psychopath himself. (Look where it got you: jail.) A similar program will soon be put in place for psychopathic offenders in the UK.

nacho libre

A very interesting read. Thanks for the link.

skeptic griggsy

Indeed! I hope that this new strategy will prove fruitful! Yahweh could have used it!:cool:

Rossibaby

its my thinking that sociopaths know what they are doing wrong,they have a grasp of right and wrong but continue anyway.psychopaths dont have a grasp of what is right and wrong and in essence are mentally ill.i dunno just my 2cents

JuliusCaesar

Personality disorders aren't generally seen as mental illnesses. Maybe because they weren't seen as treatable in the past?

2Scoops

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

One train of thought is that a sociopath lacks planning in his actions, unlike a psychopath who is careful and precise.

Sorry for the non sequitur, but this sentence reminded me of this:

realultimatepower.net wrote:

Q: Why is everyone so obsessed about ninjas?

A: Ninjas are the ultimate paradox. On the one hand they don't give a crap, but on the other hand, ninjas are very careful and precise.

Myksyk

Have a read of Hare's "Without Conscience" ... it's a good overview of sociopathy/psychopathy.

idlesupernova

Is being told you have a 'Anti social personality' a nice way of telling someone they are a sociopath or psychopath?

Myksyk

Sounds to me like the description is about someone who's not very social!!

Aido c

I was trying to figure out why this whole discussion was so familiar - was this not the whole end of plot theory behind Tony and his therapist in the finale of the Sopranos?