What is a Psychopath?

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What is a Psychopath?

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Disorders - Antisocial Personality Disorder

Written by Derek Wood

Monday, 02 February 2009 03:26

In response to our recent rash of sniper attacks in the Washington D.C area, and the term "Psychopath" being used indiscriminately, we feel that it is appropriate to truly define this term for our valued members.

Psychopathy is not a clinical term in either the DSM-IV or the ICD-10. The nearest equivalent to it is, in the DSM-IV is Antisocial Personality Disorder, while the ICD-10 uses the term "sociopathy" or "Dissocial Personality Disorder". With this in mind, I will focus on both the characteristics of the DSM-IV definitions, as well as the general "public definitions" of a psychopath.

These persons, in general, display many of the following traits:

Glibness/superficial charm
Grandiose sense of self-worth
Need for stimulation, with a proneness to boredom
Pathological lying
Conning and manipulating behaviors
No sense of remorse or guilt
A very shallow emotional affect - they display emotions they don't really feel
A lack of empathy for others
They are parasitic - they live off of others
They are impulsive, and show poor control over their behaviors
They tend to be promiscuous
Their behavior problems start early in life
They cannot form long-term plans that are realistic
They are impulsive, and irresponsible
They do not accept responsibility for their actions - another caused it
Marital relationships are short, and many
They display juvenile delinquency
They violate probation often
Their criminality is diverse

Essentially, they violate social norms and expectations without the slightest sense of guilt or regret in order to take what they want and do as they please.

It is estimated that 1-4% of the population is sociopathic, but most are able to control it within the limits of social tolerability, only being termed "socially obnoxious".

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DerekW

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Problems controlling behavior

hey I am a teenager in high school and I'm about to move towards college. I seem to have most of these symptoms...I also have big trouble controlling my behavior. Sometimes i get random quick thoughts and i act on those thoughts. I still have a good social life, lots of friends and everyone knows me because of my "crazy" (in a good way) personality. But the truth is the fact that I constantly want to go out and do the most daring, stupidest things. I have trouble sleeping at night and sometimes i stay up all night to fall asleep in the morning. I also get the feeling that all of my plans always go wrong, i can never follow up on them. Sometimes I get depressed at night because though I have so many friends none of them really know who I truly am. Nobody seems to be like me personally and it kills me. As I am moving towards college I can't seem to have gotten my head on straight. I always visualize different color patterns and random people in my head. Do you know what i can do to "mature" and become a bit more normal? thanks

Oscar , April 01, 2010

^

just stay positive, hit the gym, and focus yer energies on something productive. Oh, and pay attention to yer diet, just focus your thoughts on your goals, take a deep breath, and be you

Dave dubya , May 05, 2010

Mrs

Hi Oscar, hopefully since writing your question, you have spoken to others about these thoughts. I would suggest that you seem more likely to have a level of bipolar disorder which in a manic state can resemble aspects of a psychopathic personality. Particularly notable are your sleep disruptions, this is common in cases of bipolar - although lack of sleep itself can lead to depression. I strongly recommend that you talk to a Dr about your concerns. As for helping you to mature, that you are interesting in growing as a person and in your understanding of yourself as a person shows more maturity than you give yourself credit for. Best wishes.

Claire36 , May 06, 2010