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Difference between sociopath and psychopath

Anon2009's picture

Submitted by Anon2009 on Tue, 02/05/2013 - 12:24am

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Mentally Unfit Biological Parents

Many of us on this site are dealing with BMs who are mentally ill. We often use the terms "sociopath" and "psychopath" to describe these women. Given that, I think we need to remember that there are significant differences between the two and we need to know what those differences are:

voices.yahoo.com/sociopath-vs-psychopath-there-difference-1906224.html

HarleyQuinn's picture

Submitted by HarleyQuinn on Tue, 02/05/2013 - 4:28am

OMG!! sociopath is my skids BM to a T!!! I dont know hether to laugh or cry!! She has just no remorse, whats so ever and the entitlement is un-frigging-believable. OMG EVERY point thats scary!!

Thanks OP!!

notagain2012's picture

Submitted by notagain2012 on Tue, 02/05/2013 - 4:41am

It's all crazy.... One way or another... I call her psycho, but believe her to be a sociopath, meeting every single criteria. Even had to show SO the criteria and differences, so he could see that her behavior, is out there, and far from normal.

oldone's picture

Submitted by oldone on Tue, 02/05/2013 - 7:02am

The differences are not recognized by DSM IV - they are lumped together as something like antisocial behavior.

DSM V is due out very soon so this may change. DSM is the "bible" that mental health professionals use to make a diagnosis.

I had this very discussion with a psychiatrist and a licensed clinical social worker at a local psych hospital (in a social setting - I was not a patient Smile ). They said that "by the book" there is not a difference.

The differences in that article are sort of recognized but the two professionals that I was talking to (with 50 years of experience between them) said they could not really pick which label to use. They said the terms are fairly interchangeable.

Slender bright's picture

Submitted by Slender bright on Wed, 02/06/2013 - 5:56pm

I was a neuro student for a year, and I am CONSTANTLY correcting people bc they misuse these terms, call themselves bipolar when their mood shifts and still think Multiple Personality exists (Dis associative Identity disorder does but it is not the same). They also use OCD like it is not a crippling disorder