- What is a psychopath?
- Characteristics of a psychopath
- Difference Between Psychopathy and Sociopathy
- Causes of psychopathy
- Origin of psychopathy
We explain what a psychopath is and what his characteristics are. In addition, we tell you what the possible causes of psychopathy are.
What is a psychopath?
In psychology and psychiatry, a psychopath is someone who suffers from an antisocial disorder of the personality (TAP), which decreases or prevents her ability to empathy and makes it difficult to adapt to social environments with rules presets, such as laws, individual rights or the wellness collective.
The people who suffer from this condition, therefore, are unable to conform to social norms and conventions, and may incur behaviors antisocial, criminal or amoral.
One of the difficulties when talking about psychopathy is that it is a psychiatric condition that is difficult to recognize and poorly documented, the most successful studies of which have been produced from the year 2000 onwards. However, it is a term with a long presence in popular culture, always associated with the world of crime, the violence wave craziness criminal.
Contrary to popular belief, psychopaths are not necessarily violent, nor are they necessarily linked to the criminal world. It cannot even be said that they suffer from common symptoms, since in reality it is a psychological spectrum in which different degrees of appearance of psychopathy can occur, even among fully functional and socially successful people.
In any case, people with psychopathic traits tend to present what is known as affective anesthesia: the absence of guilt and remorse for the suffering caused to others.This may show up in some arenas and aspects of their lives more than others, or it may even be entirely hidden, as psychopaths can also fake feelings and reactions, especially when it helps them achieve their goals. goals personal.
There is no great difference between psychopathy and sociopathy, since both terms refer to antisocial personality disorders. However, the first does so from a psychic point of view and the second from a social point of view.
Characteristics of a psychopath
The clinical features from which psychopathy is determined may vary depending on the psychiatric or psychological approach used, and there are discrepancies when it comes to establishing patterns in this regard.
It is generally accepted that the presence of pyromaniac behaviors, animal abuse and enuresis (lack of control over the bladder) throughout childhood and adolescence are key indicators of possible psychopathology. However, these signs usually disappear with age and are replaced by others, such as:
- Loquacity and superficial charm, with great verbal and intelligence.
- Self esteem exaggerated and egocentrism pathological.
- Lack of nervousness in typically stressful situations.
- Constant need for stimulation and tendency to boredom.
- Propensity to systematic lying and poor reliability.
- behaviors recurring acts of cruelty, manipulation, or sadism.
- Affective superficiality and poverty in the social relationships, in addition to a parasitic lifestyle, dependent on others.
- Lack of remorse, guilt and awareness of the pain of others.
- Sex-affective promiscuity and tendency to impulsiveness.
- Tendency to delinquency and unmotivated transgression.
- Extravagant and unpleasant behavior under the influence of alcohol or other disinhibitors.
Difference Between Psychopathy and Sociopathy
Depending on the source consulted, the terms sociopathy Y psychopathy They are used, essentially, as synonyms. There is no great difference between the typical features of a psychopath and a sociopath, at least in terms of clinical features, since both names are used to describe pathologically asocial behaviors, which fit to a large extent in what is described as antisocial personality disorder. personality (TAP).
Some authors, however, draw a certain distance between the two, based on the fact that the psychopath uses aggression as an instrument to obtain his rational goals, while the sociopath uses it as part of an excessive reaction to a stimulus. . That is, the psychopath uses violence as an instrument, while the sociopath uses it as a way of relating to his environment.
Causes of psychopathy
The causes of psychopathy are still unknown. Genetic and environmental factors are thought to influence its appearance, or at least the exact degree of its manifestations, such as child abuse or maltreatment, especially of parents who are victims of alcoholism or drug addiction. Other theories point to the possible presence of damage or malformations in the frontal lobe of individuals suffering from psychopathy.
Origin of psychopathy
The idea that there are people who are often unable to follow the laws of society has been around since ancient times, long before the term psychopath. The latter is made up of the Greek voices psyke (“mind”) and pathos (“disease”), so it really points to any mental illness, and it is a modern creation, arising from the birth of the sciences of the mind.
Regarding psychopathy as a syndrome, its scientific studies began in the 19th century.Physicians such as Philippe Pinel (1745-1826) classified it as a kind of mania, devoid of cognitive deficiencies but with serious affective damage. Something that in 1835 the British James Howard Prichard (1786-1848) described as a "moral madness", in the sense that there was no intellectual disturbance, but there was a disturbance of feelings and affections.
Since then, psychopathology has enjoyed a presence in popular culture, used as a justification for monstrous characters, unrepentant criminals and serial killers, although it is a clear exaggeration regarding the role that psychopaths play in the real world.