Sociopath Vs Psychopath

According to the American Psychiatric Association, “there are currently 374 known mental disorders” (Ronson 33), yet none of those are psychopathy or sociopathy. There is a serious lack of understanding as to what constitutes sociopathy and the causes of the disorder. Controversy surrounds sociopathy and whether someone is born a sociopath or if they way they are raised and how they grew up mutates their minds. Before understanding the causation of this mental disorder, one must first understand the difference between sociopaths and psychopaths. These two mental disorders often share similar warning signs: a disregard for laws and social norms, lack of regard for the rights of others, cannot feel guilt or regret, and a tendency toward violent

Sociopaths are often anxious, easily angered, and prone to emotional outbursts, including fits of rage. These people tend to be uneducated, live on the outside of society, and are unable to maintain a job. Sociopaths can often form bonds with individuals or groups but it is often difficult due to their disregard for society and its rules. A person with this mental disorder would appear disturbed to others, while crimes committed by this type of person would appear “haphazard, disorganized and spontaneous” (Bonn 4) rather than carefully planned out. In contrast, psychopaths are entirely unable to form emotional connections or feel any empathy for others. Psychopaths often possess charming personalities and be very manipulative which allows them to easily gain the trust of others. Many learn to mimic emotions -despite their inability to feel them- and appear completely normal. These people are

The young mind is extremely vulnerable to manipulation and corruption especially during childhood and early to mid adolescence. Studies have shown that most learning occurs in preadolescence, and there are certain times in a child’s life, considered crucial times, where a child’s mind is more susceptible to learning and the learning they receive will more likely shape them for the rest of their lives. One does not have to be in their youth to develop a mental disorder, “severe trauma to specific regions of the brain can cause a person to undergo marked personality changes” (Stamatakis 3) such as sociopathic traits. New research has identified certain areas of the brain that are believed to cause psychopathic behaviors. Changes in the amygdala -the region of the brain that is responsible for emotion regulation- may explain why sociopaths are unable to express emotions properly. Other areas of the brain that are believed to cause psychopathic behaviors are the cerebral cortex,, which regulates memory and self awareness, and the frontal lobe, which is responsible for self-control and