Sociopathy

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I have long believed myself to be a sociopath. I show most signs; a callous disregard for humanity, an overwhelming desire to kill, and the ability to justify such a thing, along with the associated sense of grandeur. However, I seem to have two key differences between the conventional sociopath. One is that I despise lying and believe in the truth in 99% of all cases. This, however, is a counter-result of my childhood, where I was lied to constantly, so there we have an explanation. The other, however, is open. I love animals. I can't bear the thought of hurting an animal. Not people, I'd kill any number of people right now if I had the means to do so and the ability to lose all legal consequences associated. I can't even imagine harming an animal. But when I look at the history of sociopaths, almost all of them have a history of zoosadism, which I find disgusting and barbaric. Anyone care to offer an explanation?

gdsyve6469a

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisocial ... M-IV-TR.29

Maybe you just have an extreme lack of empathy. To me it does not sound like you are a sociopath. Most sociopaths are really manipulative and appear charming...they lie to and use people for their advantage. Maybe you want to kill people because you have been treated badly by people in your life? From what I've read it dosen't seem like you have it, though I could be wrong...

You're definitely not a psychopath. I feel the word "sociopath" is so muddled though, so I'd rather not see it used. People with some disorder that makes them display some of the behaviour of psychopaths are sometimes referred to as "secondary psychopaths". To be a primary psychopath, it's almost required that you've been cruel to animals growing up and that you're quite charming, on top of social situations.

I find that us Aspergians are farther away than NT's on roughly half the points on the psychopathy checklist. Here's that thing by the way:

Item Factor Loading

Glibness/superficial charm 1
Grandiose sense of self-worth 1
Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom 2
Pathological lying 1
Conning/manipulative 1
Lack of remorse or guilt 1
Shallow affect 1
Callous/lack of empathy 1
Parasitic lifestyle 2
Poor behavioral control 2
Promiscuous sexual behavior -
Early behavior problems 2
Lack of realistic, long-term goals 2
Impulsivity 2
Irresponsibility 2
Failure to accept responsibility for own actions 1
Many short-term marital relationships -
Juvenile delinquency 2
Revocation of conditional release 2
Criminal versatility -


Factor 1 is the emotional defiency of psychopaths, and factor 2 is the antisocial behaviour. The PCL is used to diagnose potential psychopaths.

I wonder, if I'm not a psychopath(which may very well be), and I'm not a sociopath(from what I have read, the key difference for many psychologists is the belief that sociopathy is often caused by environmental factors), then what causes me to fit so many of the qualities for both?

Postscript-The Machine, I fit three of those(3, 5, 7), but they can't diagnose APD until 18, due to the risk of suicide or homicide being overwhelming.