Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) and Psychopathy are commonly believed to describe the same kind of person and behavior; However, this is not the case. APD is a diagnosable disorder which can be defined as "a pervasive pattern of disregard, or violation of, the rights of others". Those with APD tend to act impulsively and lack regard for the safety of their own and others actions. For diagnosis of APD, attention is put on behavioral symptoms and in practice are often assessed through unstructured interviews. Psychopathy is a psychological term and not a DSM diagnosable disorder.
Psychopathy is assessed differently than APD and consists of more emotional symptoms than APD. Psychopathy encompasses the lack of an emotional component that makes it
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Psychopaths do not feel remorse for their actions and are believed to lack a conscience. Furthermore, psychopaths attempt to hide their outward appearance as "normal" and although they lack true empathy, they are good chameleons that often have charming character. Although psychopathy is typically linked with criminal behavior, this is not always the case and some believe that psychopaths can even be politicians, lawyers, and successful business leaders. Psychopathy is associated with a stronger link of offending than Antisocial Personality Disorder. However, labeling someone a "psychopath" may affect the severity of punishment or treatment the individual with this label receives. Since psychopaths do not learn from punishment, it is difficult to form an effective treatment plan for these individuals. Treatment for APD typically includes talk therapy and seeks to help the individual understand the consequences of APD so that the client may be assisted in controlling their behavior. However, since psychopaths lack guilt and empathy for their actions, this type of therapy is ineffective on psychopaths. Psychopathy presents more difficult obstacles for therapists hoping to