When one hears the terms “psychopath” and “sociopath,” a few vivid images that come to mind include violent, cold-blooded crimes. Although these associations are not unfounded, they do not pertain to all cases. Sociopaths and Psychopaths are considered by most as classifications under Antisocial Personality Disorder(ASPD). This should not be confused with Asocial, which is classified as introversion. An antisocial personality disorder is related to those who display harmful behavior to others without a sense of guilt or shame. These terms have been mistakenly exchanged quite frequently. However, they are not the same.
Psychopath
Most psychologists consider psychopaths a more severe form of ASPD and far more dangerous than sociopaths. This is due to the fact that psychopaths are much more challenging to diagnose and identify due to their ability to blend into the crowd. Those diagnosed with ASPD do not care about others, allowing them to commit despicable crimes or actions without guilt, but psychopaths pretend to possess those conscientious emotions. This leads to them having semi-normal relationships. An example of this would be Ted Bundy, who was diagnosed with psychopathy. Bundy was the assistant director of the Seattle Crime Prevention Advisory Commission and even had a girlfriend and was a kind father to his girlfriend’s daughter. This led to him having a normal life, which did not fit the profile of a serial killer, and due to this, he managed to evade capture for many years. Furthermore, psychopaths are very methodical and carry out elaborate plans to avoid any suspicion and generally avoid impulsive acts. However, all psychologists agree that psychopaths are born with mutations that result in a dysfunctional amygdala and display psychopathic behaviors due to these genetic conditions.
Sociopaths
Similarly, Sociopaths are people who have been diagnosed with ASPD. However, unlike psychopaths, sociopaths are learned. In other words, their trauma stems from rough upbringings that caused them to be sociopathic. Furthermore, unlike psychopaths, sociopaths make it clear that they do not care about other people’s feelings and can show some empathy towards those going through the situation that they might have faced. A couple more differences include that sociopaths are very erratic and impulsive, meaning they go into fits of rage, making them unstable and incapable of having a stable relationship with anyone. This also causes them to be spotted much faster due to their inability to blend in and pretend to care like psychopaths.
All in all, psychopaths and sociopaths are two very different people with ASPD, but that does not necessarily mean they will commit violent crimes or become serial killers.