Psychopath vs Sociopath vs Antisocial Personality Disorder: Know the similarities and differences

Psychopath, Sociopath, and Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) with each condition having distinguished features but many characteristics in common they stand to be one of the most complex terms to understand when it comes to studying human behavior. These terms are often used interchangeably, despite bearing real differences. 

Psychopaths and sociopaths are often used interchangeably in common speech to describe a person who is pathologically prone to criminal or violent behavior and who lacks any regard for the feelings or interests of others and any feelings of remorse or guilt for his crimes.

To begin with, a psychopath can be termed to someone who presents psychopathic traits like lack of empathy, guilt, conscience, or remorse, shallow experiences of feelings or emotions, impulsivity, and suffers from a weak ability to defer gratification and control behavior.

The label psychopath is often used loosely by a variety of participants in the system, commonly - police, victims, prosecutors, judges, and prison officials, even defense lawyers, mostly with the one associated with criminals and that's because the criminals often tend to do things which are generally not expected by a normal minded human.

Law and psychiatry, even at the zenith of their rehabilitative optimism, both viewed psychopaths as a kind of exception that proved the rehabilitative rule. Psychopaths composed that small but embarrassing cohort whose very resistance to all manner of treatment seemed to be its defining characteristic, says NCBI.

On the other hand, people that are sociopaths are most commonly very nervous by nature, and they can get agitated quite quickly and easily. They behave violently when they reach their low tipping point,  and their rage is very tough to be controlled. Most sociopaths, also struggle to maintain meaningful relationships with other people.

A simple difference between the two is 'psychopath' is a clinical term, and 'sociopath' is not a clinical term. However, mental health professionals instead prefer to understand both psychopathy and sociopathy as types of antisocial personality disorders (APDs). 

An antisocial personality disorder is a particularly challenging type of personality disorder characterized by impulsive, irresponsible, and often criminal behavior. Someone with an antisocial personality disorder will typically be manipulative, deceitful and reckless, and won't care for other people's feelings.

Like other types of personality disorder, and antisocial personality disorder is on a spectrum, which means it can range in severity from occasional bad behavior to repeatedly breaking the law and committing serious crimes.

Psychopaths are considered to have a severe form of antisocial personality disorder.