Is Aspergers the opposite of psychopathy? What's our link?

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Joined: 30 Mar 2025
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22 May 2025, 4:51 am

FranzOren wrote:

Is it possible that I might end up committing crimes without meaning to do so if I don't understand what people are trying to tell me or if I am in panic? I have ASD.

Prof. Sam Vaknin explained that people with HFA (like me) can do something stressful or distressful and that people like me with HFA could commit crimes without meaning to do so or are in panic, because people like me don’t have very good social skills.

I feel scared and confused! Because statistics and studies point out that people with mental health and developmental disorders are less likely to commit crimes and are ten times more likely to be victims than the general population.

Source:

http://mentalhealth.gov/basics/mental-h ... yths-facts

Statistics and studies of mental health, development and personalities are similar in almost all over the world.

Prof. Sam Vaknin explained that only people with HFA (High-functioning Autism) can have conduct disorders and I am one of them. I am a High-functioning person with ASD who also has a diagnosis of Conduct Disorder Unspecified.

https://youtu.be/7GjuAdqi1nA

Don't panic. Real psychopathy is about intentionally causing harm, not accidentally getting into trouble. If you don't have the intention, there's nothing wrong with you.

Misdiagnosis is possible. Especially if you are living in a place with little mental healthcare resource. Some doctors conflate autism with psychopathy just because of their surface similiarities ("lack of empathy")." This isn't responsible and you deserve better support.

As for Vaknin, he's a controversial figure. Some of his points make sense, but he isn't that much an authority.

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funeralxempire
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22 May 2025, 11:56 am

It's possible for one to have both ASPD and ASD diagnoses. ASD doesn't preclude ASPD.

polylogarithmos wrote:

Some doctors conflate autism with psychopathy just because of their surface similiarities ("lack of empathy")."

While that's true in some cases, it doesn't mean that there aren't cases where the two are co-morbid as well. If someone with ASD meets the diagnostic criteria for ASPD, it would make sense that they also have ASPD rather than trying to handwave the symptom overlap away as not really being ASPD.

While autism doesn't cause ASPD, it's fair to consider that autism might be one puzzle piece in why an individual developed ASPD.

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Edna3362
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22 May 2025, 12:24 pm

KellyPFranklin wrote:

Since my twenties I've been aware of psychopaths and they of me. Some I've even loved. Mostly they hate my guts and hurt me. Once they get to know me.
What links us? I feel too much and they don't at all, I don't take chances and that's all they do. Is it that opposites attract, we're both outside looking in, some repellent trait we share, or what? Something's there.

Aspergers and Psychopathy, seeking your thoughts on perceived connections.

Primary psychopaths?
The misunderstandings around alexithymia traits. Of "lacking" emotions, flat expressions, manual social learning and performative emotional expressiveness. :roll:

Secondary psychopaths -- the overlap around trauma and other screw ups. Over the ideas of morality, around right and wrong, and the damnable misunderstanding between the meaning of empathy; emotional literacy or "caring". :roll:

Just more stupid trait overlaps between social ineptitude, executive dysfunction, and disregard to social rules or impulsive social rule breaking. :roll:

No different than mistaking autism with ADHD, with specific learning disorders, with mental illnesses especially social anxiety, or personality disorders whether it's narcissism or schizoid.

Old, old news. :roll:

Typical dramatic dynamics of chains of predator and prey, abusive parents and victimized children.

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lostonearth35
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22 May 2025, 12:38 pm

I think I became a sociopath in my mid-late 20s, not long before I was diagnosed with Asperger's. I just started to really hate people and was rude and nasty most of the time, and my outbursts got more frequent and severe. I didn't even feel sorry or ashamed of my own behavior, I was only sorry it got me into so much trouble, that was the one thing that scared me, ending up alone and with no life because of my antisocial behavior.

I'm able to suppress most of my antisocial personality now, but any positive emotions I have are mostly numbed and I still hate most humans.

Of course, psychopaths "love" autistic people. We're more likely to be naive and be tricked by their superficial charm, and we're much more likely to become their victims of abuse and violence.

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26 May 2025, 12:24 am

I'm no Psychologist , but if I were to try to name the Psychological disorder which is the polar opposite to Autism, it would be Machiavellianism.

Whereas Autistic people are characteristically not psychological manipulators, what with their unideal social skills, at the other extreme are Machiavellians who are extremely manipulative. They keep their cards close to their chest, revealing as little as possible, whereas Autistic people infodump, revealing too much. Machiavellians play 4D chess to use, abuse and discard people like pawns, all the while doing an excruciatingly good job of hiding it, whereas Autistic people just want a fair shake, hoping nobody they meet wants to control and enslave them.

An excellent summary of Machiavellian style thinking is in CGP Grey's Youtube vid "Rules for Rulers".

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Tamaya
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26 May 2025, 5:42 am

I'm not likely to be tricked by psychopaths, but I have a hard time dealing with bad people. For example if I'm being bullied I know all the subtle signs and can see the patterns of their intentions, but I react to it by panicking and getting extremely anxious.

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26 May 2025, 2:19 pm

A psychologist once told me that autistics and psychopaths are the opposites with "normal" people somewhere in the middle.

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