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Essay On History Of Mental Illness
Difference between sociopath and psychopath essay
Essay On History Of Mental Illness
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Many people have mentioned that one’s cognizance develops at the time of conception and is molded throughout a lifetime. The human mind is full of mysterious thoughts and each individual portrays unique personalities that can be haunting to some. Most people in this world have come across a sociopath or a psychopath, in some shape or form. Psychopaths and sociopaths have a tendency to lie and cheat to get what they want. This is why one must know the importance of understanding the unique personality they portray for what lies ahead. While, psychopaths and sociopaths have similar medical treatment options, psychopaths have different social relationships and criminal behavior. For one to be diagnosed as a psychopath or sociopath, the medical …show more content…
treatment is exactly the same. Both these individuals are known to have an anti-social personality disorder and no cure is available. The first attempt of treatment is psychotherapy. “Psychotherapy refers to the use of psychological techniques to treat emotional, behavioral and interpersonal problems” (Hockenbury 580). Most of the time psychotherapy is not successful because the patient denies that a problem exists. The other alternative to psychotherapy is prescribing medicine. A sociopath and psychopath are treated with anxiety and anti-depressant medications. If medicine does not alleviate the disorder, the patients can undergo psychotherapy at the same time. By combining psychotherapy and medicine, sociopaths and psychopaths have a chance to experience reality as a normal person. “People with personality disorders experience patterns of behavior, feelings, and thinking that can cause issues in personal and social relationships” (Mentalhealth).
Psychopaths and sociopaths may have a charming personality and can make a person believe they are good people. Both of these types of individuals have a strong ability to manipulate human-beings and the pain they cause to one’s life is beyond words. Having knowledge of how sociopaths and psychopaths engage in relationships is the key when contemplating on adding a new person to one’s life. For example, psychopaths do not have the normal ability to build relationships and display no empathy or guilt with anyone. On the other hand, sociopaths have the ability to express empathy and guilt, especially to close friends and family. Psychopaths only build relationships with people that will benefit them, even family. While sociopaths can maintain a relationship with close friends and family. Psychopaths can be very manipulative and malicious to the people they have enter their lives. A sociopath can be overly organized and portray themselves as a normal person, they still can be very destructive in any relationship they …show more content…
encounter. Some of the most notorious criminals are classified as being a psychopath or a sociopath.
For instance, it has been mentioned that Ted Bundy fit the category of being a psychopath. He apparently killed and raped 36 people showing no empathy. Then there was Diane Downs she was considered to be a sociopath. She apparently met a man who didn’t want kids, so she killed her children to get wanted she wanted. These individuals are everyday people and knowing a few signs of their criminal conduct could be helpful. Psychopaths will have tendencies to participate in organized crime. On the contrary, sociopaths will lean towards opportunistic crimes. Psychopaths will reduce the risk of being caught, but sociopaths will act on impulse and leave clues. It is advisable for one to understand that psychopaths are planners and sociopaths are people on the whim. “A common feature of the antisocial, rule-breaking behavior that is central to criminal, violent and psychopathic individuals is the failure to follow moral guidelines (Raine and
Yaling). Walking through the journey of life, one will come across many unique individuals that portray traits that seem to be very shocking. The minds of these individuals do not function like a normal person. Psychopaths and sociopaths are medically treated in the same way. Although, psychopaths and sociopaths have the ability to engage in social relationships, but against social norms. These individuals do exist and one should always be aware of who he or she allows to enter their lives. The criminal behaviors of these individuals also differ. Sociopaths are erratic and psychopaths are more in control of the crime they commit. Understanding the traits of these individuals is the first step to ensuring that one is protecting themselves against being manipulated or violated by individuals with this serious mental illness.
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigations website, psychopathy has been described as the single most important clinical construct in the criminal justice system. It goes on to say that the need to understand psychopathy cannot be overstated (FBI, 2013.) From environmental influence to biology, psychopathy can be looked at from several different angles. This paper examines current thinking about how the brain and its structures contribute to psychopathy.
Identifying the mystery of the psychopath can prove to help the them and the general public. Early awareness of the common psychopaths among us will reduce the impact on society. Further research is still needed to better help the psychopath and the general population.
Psychopath and Sociopath are so closely related that many don’t know they are different illness. Both psychopath and sociopath have similar illness but their factors are completely different. Study’s shows this may be a product of nature vs nurture. Secondly, Psychopath behavior is shown to be controlled while sociopath is shown to have uncontrollable behavior. Thirdly, there violence outburst is different, psychopath usually plan out their crimes while sociopaths are erratic and careless with their crimes. Fourthly, Psychopaths don’t feel any type emotion towards others but they can be in relationships when it comes beneficial to them. Sociopaths often don’t have relationships, they don’t become attached to others. Lastly, Psychopath are actually
Some of the most important information about psychopathy is that it is a personality disorder. These people are usually charming the way into people’s life to use and manipulate them to get what they want. These people do not have a soul of remorse for what they do because all they care about is themselves and what they can get from others. When these people using their charm they ma...
Megan, K., & Courant, S. W. (2005, Mar 10). THE KILLERS (AND LIARS) IN OUR MIDST ; HOW DOES A SERIAL MURDERER LIVE UNDETECTED AMONG `NORMAL PEOPLE'? BY BEING A SOCIOPATH -- A PERSON WITHOUT A CONSCIENCE, WITHOUT THE ABILITY TO LOVE. Hartford Courant. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/256830354?accountid=10244
...res of the psychopaths and gives the reader various examples of these individuals playing out these characteristics in everyday life. A widely used checklist is provided so the reader can get a wide spanning view of what is accounted for when scoring a psychopath. This form of research is very important within the deceitfulness of this population; it allows the professional to ignore their words and examine their actions. Hare made it clear that it is not uncommon for there to be an emotional and verbal disconnect from their actions. With virtually no emotional functioning psychopaths feel no remorse for the offenses that they commit and it is very important that we work towards using the opportunities we have to study and assist these populations; not only for them but for ourselves.
What is a psychopath? What type of person can be characterized by this and how do they come to be? But first before we can answer these questions we must first know what a psychopath is. Psychopaths are people suffering from chronic mental disorder with abnormal or violent social behaviors; clinically it is a person who has a lack of what we would consider a conscience. Psychopaths are seen to suffer from a lack of empathy because of psychological, genetic and environmental factors. Scientists have many theories concerning psychopaths. Scientist do not have a definite clear cut answer on what is the cause for psychopathy but they have many ideas; nature and the nurture of the person. Nature is the genes that the person carries. The nurture of the person when they were a child is simply means how they were treated when they were growing up and/or how they were raised. Some scientists even consider it a possibility that it could be a mixture of the two.
Sociopaths are prevalent among society, and some researchers, like Martha Stout, claim that one out of every twenty-five people is a sociopath. However, this statistic is incorrect. This statistic is based on the assumption that sociopaths and psychopaths are the same people—which is untrue. While the sociopathic and psychopathic traits overlap, sociopaths differ in that they are obviously nervous and agitated, unable to create the illusions that psychopaths are so proud of. They live on the fringes of society, uneducated and unable to keep a steady job. Psychopaths, unlike sociopaths, are suave and able to maintain an illusion of conformity and maintain relationships on a superficial level. Both, however, are dominantly male, tend to disregard the rights and social mores of others, and have a tendency display violent and disruptive outbursts without remorse. Unlike psychopaths, who completely lack remorse and the ability to love, sociopaths may attach themselves to certain people, though they still remain contemptuous of the rest of humanity (7).
Depictions of psychopaths today have become exaggerated based off of what you see in movies and films. The psychopaths in movies are believed to be dangerous or have an anti-social personality disorder. Not all psychopaths can be defined in that manner. Psychopaths are identified as people who are emotionally unstable. They are ultimately suffering from a chronic mental disorder with abnormal or violent social behavior. There have been studies ultimately wondering if a psychopath is born, or is it raised? Genetics and environment combine to produce conditions that create psychopathology. By paying attention to environmental variables we can potentially reduce the amount of people who become dangerous psychopaths.
Psychopaths are intelligent, appealing, and good at copying emotions seen from others. They pretend to care and may sometimes even act like they are there for you, which is all a means to get what they want.
The media most often showcases psychopaths as individuals who are inherently evil and dangerous towards themselves and others. Yet, this concept of psychopathy goes far beyond this idea of pure evil and instead necessitates a needed psychological understanding. These individuals, psychopaths, are generally characterized by a lack of empathy and conscience. Indeed, psychopath’s indifference to the repercussions of their actions combined with other characteristics such as hostility and aggression make for a potentially dangerous personality (Lyken, 1996, p.30). In order to identify a psychopath’s recidivism, it is important to differentiate them from sociopaths who, instead of having a psychological impairment that makes it difficult for them to socialize, have been systematically under socialized (Lyken, 1996, p.30). In accordance. psychologists have developed the methods such as the Psychopathy Checklist- Revised (PCL-R) to help identify those with psychopathic tendencies (Walters, 2012, p.409). That is why predictions of recidivism among psychopaths is most efficient when done
New studies reveal that psychopaths not only understand right from wrong, but can justify their morally inappropriate actions regardless of the consequences. Psychology experts Maaike Cima, Marc Hauser and Franca Tonnaer devised a hypothesis that could potentially render previous preconceptions about psychopathy moot:
A psychopath is someone who is unable to live harmoniously in society due to their profound lack of compassion, empathy, conscience, and remorse (Hare, 1993). Many psychopathic symptoms have been proposed to result from cognitive and emotional processing impairments. The concept of a psychopath is often of a ruthless and dangerous criminal, an image commonly depicted in the media and film. Though psychopaths do make up an estimated 40% of dangerous offenders in Canada, it is the non-violent manipulators and cheaters, like white-collar criminals and unethical business people, who can have the most impact on the general population (Bonta & Motiuk; 1996, Hare, 1993). Therefore, understanding the cognitive bases and development of psychopathy can allow exploration into possible interventions and treatments, as well as identifying measures for use in diagnosing psychopathy in childhood and adolescence. Additionally, the deciphering of abnormal processes can give insight into normal functioning, thus helping to expand current knowledge. This paper reviews conclusions that processing of
Sociopaths are people with a major personality disorder and they possess sociopathic characteristics of being tremendously antisocial and they have no conscience. They react on impulses and they usually fail to plan ahead. Sometimes a sociopath often believes that they are doing nothing wrong or when they are do terrible things they believe that they’re doing something that’s good or acceptable. This definition may fall a bit short because of the simple fact that one will truly never understand what a sociopath really is, or what they think, unless you’re one yourself. This is because of the many characteristics that a sociopath have. Not all sociopaths are good people, but the same thing could be said that, not all sociopaths are bad people.
Contrary to the movie industry’s portrayal of psychopaths, rarely do psychopaths come out in the open and kill their victims with chainsaws or wear disturbing masks. Nor do they act menacing or evil out in public. Rather, most psychopaths attempt to blend into society. A psychopath can be defined as one who uses superficial charm and manipulation to achieve his or her goals, even if it involves committing crimes. They can act quickly and feel neither remorse for committing the crime nor empathy for their unsuspecting victim. As much as they attempt to blend in, psychopaths are unable to fully function in society because they lack some qualities of a “normal” person. In the medical field, psychopathy is not recognized as a disorder. In fact, Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary defines psychopathy as an “obsolete term” (Venes and Taber 1372). In an effort to define psychopathy, multiple psychiatrists attempted to describe i...