Sociopath Personality Disorder
Sociopaths are usually defined as people displaying anti social behavior which is
mainly characterized by lack of empathy towards others that is coupled with display of
abnormal moral conduct and inability to conform with the norms of the society. People
suffering from antisocial personality disorder are often referred to as sociopaths. Some
of the other characteristics that sociopaths may display are stealing, lying, lack of
remorse for others and towards living beings, irresponsible behavior, impulsive
behavior, drug or alcohol abuse, problems with the law, violating rights of others,
aggressive behavior and much more.
Sociopaths are often unable to control their behavior and their expressions of
annoyance, irritability and threats when faced with situations not appealing to them and
they often tend to resort to threats, aggression and verbal abuse. Though no person is
born with this disorder, the sociopathic personality disorder does involve a history of
persistent anti social behavior during childhood before the age of 15 and if left
untreated, this disorder continues into adulthood too. Sociopaths could also have been
influenced by various environmental factors around the age of 15 that is also one of the
main reasons for this disorder in individuals. Some of the environmental factors can
include deprivation, sexual abuse, abandonment, emotional abuse, association with
people who are antisocial, physical abuse and others. Though there are no distinct
biological causes that have been identified as the main cause for this disorder, research
suggest that for people suffering from sociopathic personality disorder, the part of the
brain that is mainly responsible for an individual’s learning from his or her own mistakes
and responding to fearful and sad facial expressions tends to be smaller than in a
normal individual. Researchers believe that this may be the reason for lack of empathy
towards others. There are theories that also indicate that hormonal fluctuations also
have a role to play in this disorder, however the links have not been directly established.
People suffering from Sociopathic disorders tend to be superficially charming. They also
tend to display behavior which include manipulation of people around them, desire to be
in control of everything and everyone around them that usually leads to grave
consequences and shallow emotions.
SOCIOPATH SYMPTOMS AND TRAITS
The widely used manual that is used for diagnosing various mental disorders, DSM IV,
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition, lists out some of
the symptoms that have to be present in an individual in order to be diagnosed as
suffering from antisocial personality disorder. According to the DSM IV, this disorder
falls in the Cluster B list of personality disorder. For a person to be diagnosed as
a sociopath he or she must have at least three or more of the below mentioned
symptoms.
o
Displays heightened levels of deceitfulness in dealings with others, which
involves lying, conning others without remorse, or even using aliases
o
Inability to abide by the social norms and thus violating law
o
Displays aggressiveness and often tends to get into assaults and physical fights
o
Displays complete lack of empathy for others and their situation for which they
are responsible
o
Displays no feelings or shallow feelings
o
Displays impulsive behavior which is indicated by the inability to plan for the
future
o
Displays no concern for safety of others around them or self
o
Inability to sustain a consistent behavior that stems mainly from irresponsibility
especially at work place or in other dealings
o
Displays promiscuous behavior
Research has revealed that since a sociopath never conforms to the rules of the
society, he or she is not bothered about the consequences of his or her actions. Such
people at times are also able to inspire like minded people. Some of the other traits that
are common in antisocial people are that they are usually intelligent and have a
superficial charm and they are able to attain success using unscrupulous methods.
Thus they can also never learn from their own mistakes and they do not hesitate to
indulge in certain activities that are considered immoral and taboo by the society.