Do Your Research

I was reading the newspaper (as I do every day, of course) and I happened across an article about sociopaths-- I think it was in the Kids Post (because I'm just that sophisticated), and it sparked my interest.

Pretty much the only thing I know about sociopaths is that Sherlock Holmes is not a psychopath, he's a high-functioning sociopath. Do your research. And that psychopaths get bored.

Hahahahaa, oh, me. I'm hilarious.

I've only heard psychopaths mentioned in a criminal context, like the guys that go and shoot schools full of children. I'm mostly sure that psychopathy is a psychological condition instead of an insulting label hurled at criminals, but other than that, nothing. So, I thought I'd learn more, and thus this blog post was born.

So what are sociopaths? And psychopaths? And what's the difference?

Interestingly enough, when I searched "sociopaths" on Wikipedia, it redirected me to psychopaths, suggesting that they're the same or similar. Psychopathy is a personality disorder marked by several factors, including lack of empathy, lack of emotions like fear or guilt, egocentricity, manipulativeness, impulsivity, other antisocial behaviors such as substance abuse and rowdy and inconsiderate behavior, and a parasitic lifestyle.  Basically, psychopaths can't recognize other people's emotions very well or feel many emotions themselves without specifically learning to.

There is a psychopath checklist called the PCL-R, which was developed by psychologist Robert D. Hare. It assesses subjects based on two factors: Factor 1, Aggressive Narcissism, which includes things like superficial charm and the inability to accept responsibility for one's actions, and factor 2, a socially deviant lifestyle, like a need for stimulation and proneness to boredom. There a few others that don't fit into either category, like promiscuous sexual behavior and relying on sociological strategies to pervcieve and feign emotions, usually to manipulate people. Factor 1 is more useful in identifying psychopathy in women, while factor 2 is more useful for men. Experts recognize that this test is not perfect, but it can be useful in determining psychopathy.

There's also a test called the Psychopathic Personality Inventory, or PPI. This is different because it tests personality traits, instead of referring outright to antisocial behaviors themselves. There are 154 factors organized into 8 groups, which are then grouped into two groups, fearless dominance (social skills)  and impulsive anisociality not adapting to one's environment), plus one leftover factor which is important in itself, coldheartedness.

Psycopathy is not listed as a condition in itself according to the DSM, a system for testing mental disorders, but it is very similare to ASPD, which is anti-social personality disorder. Many experts argue whether or not psychopathy should even be classified as a separate condition.

Now onto sociopathy. I tried Wikipediaing it again, and this time, Wikipedia said that it is loosely defined and usually refers to psychopathy or ASPD.  When I went to the ASPD page, it explained that ASPD was different from sociopathy and psychopathy- and then explained the difference between the two.

The difference between psychopathy and sociopathy, according to Wikipedia, then, is based on what one believes to be the origin of such behavior- sociopathy is usually used by sociologists who believe that the cause is based on social factors, while psychopathy is used with people who believe it to be social or environmental.

Which is interesting when taken back into the context of BBC's Sherlock. If Sherlock considers himself to be a sociopath, then that implies that he thinks his family (namely, Mycroft) and perhaps his school life are what made him who he is. Cool.

But enough over-analyzing British television. My thought train isn't done yet.

It struck me that psychopathy sounded really similar to extreme autism. Autism is a wide spectrum of developmental disorders that usually include impaired social skills, which is a part of psychopathy.  In A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, the main character has severe autism, and he has to learn how to discern emotions with facial cue flash cards. This is also a psychopathic behavior. Also, Autism is thought to be somewhat genetic, similarly to psychopathy.

There are a lot of differences, though, as well. Autism is not limited to social efficacy, and neither is psychopathy. Autism also has to do with different parts of social efficacy, like looking people in the eye and symbolic play.

 I think it's important to understand personality disorders and why we do things because we have to deal with people all day, every day. Humans are social animals, and by understanding them we can make our lives more fulfilling.



Sources I used:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism_spectrum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisocial_personality_disorder#Psychopathy_and_sociopathy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hare_Psychopathy_Checklist