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I thought the article made a good point about the general popular adoption of the ill-defined term 'psychopath', and that the reality of individuals with traits

by eric_h 11y ago

I thought the article made a good point about the general popular adoption of the ill-defined term 'psychopath', and that the reality of individuals with traits often attributed to psychopaths may not be as clear as they are portrayed in such pop culture representations as e.g. Dexter. My real complaint is that the article seems to have conflated the psychopath with the sociopath. I was under the impression that sociopaths were a superset of psychopaths, with psychopaths being more traditionally "evil" (a la jack the ripper). I do agree that the article's arguments in general are weak, and I don't really see any reasonable conclusion to be drawn from it. At the very least, though, I do find the description of this Gregory character to be interesting and to some extent representative of the small handful of people (~3) I've met in my life who I believed to be sociopaths (admittedly, I'd never heard of those particular individuals running someone over with a car with no remorse or hesitation, but I also believe that had they done such a thing, they wouldn't bring it up in conversation).

Retra 11y ago
I'm pretty sure the medical community at large considers sociopathy and psychopathy to be the same thing, if they are considered at all. 'Traditional evilness' isn't really the kind of symptom a psychiatrist can use.
nickpsecurity 11y ago
That point about popular adaption was good. It's clear that what psychologists are debating and what happens on TV are different. Far as sociopath vs psychopath, psychologists tell me they're both mostly pop-psych terms with meanings that vary due to who you're talking to. The only one they mention is Anti-social Personality Disorder. I'm under the impression that they focus more on the potential psychopath's individual traits and less on the categorization itself. I've seen some interesting categorizations which seemed to be there just to have one. They treated the symptoms. He was an interesting character. He exhibited that kind of behavior. Yet, it could easily be his upbringing especially if growing up under and around hustlers. The guy might have never been taught better. So, I call that sort of thing bad character, a bit evil, but not all out psychopath in my book. This may not be everyone, but I tend to associate it with people who clearly have no conscience and seem to compulsively do these things. I've met them and they stand out from the average bad apple. Either the article or a commenter mentioned them getting back at people years later. The inability to let go without doing what they were compelled to do. Many I've met had that trait, too. That's why you figure out what pisses them off and avoid it. Assuming you can't avoid them... (sighs)
krylon 11y ago
One point the article should have made, IMHO, is that for any kind of personality disorder, it is a continuum, not a discrete true-or-false distinction. A medical doctor can clearly and unambiguously diagnose whether or not you have, say, Type-1-diabetes or a broken leg, there is no wiggle-room, it is not open to interpretation. With personality disorders, the definition is usually a list of symptoms of which a person has to show at least a certain number (e.g. 5 out of 9) to "qualify". But a person that shows, say, 4 out of 9 symptoms of Antisocial Personality Disorder, would still be very unpleasant to be around, even if he or she is not a sociopath from a clinical point of view. (I am making the numbers up to make a point - the actual length of the list and the number of symptoms one has to show for APD is probably different, but not radically so.)

by eric_h 11y ago

Retra 11y ago

I'm pretty sure the medical community at large considers sociopathy and psychopathy to be the same thing, if they are considered at all. 'Traditional evilness' isn't really the kind of symptom a psychiatrist can use.

nickpsecurity 11y ago

That point about popular adaption was good. It's clear that what psychologists are debating and what happens on TV are different. Far as sociopath vs psychopath, psychologists tell me they're both mostly pop-psych terms with meanings that vary due to who you're talking to. The only one they mention is Anti-social Personality Disorder. I'm under the impression that they focus more on the potential psychopath's individual traits and less on the categorization itself. I've seen some interesting categorizations which seemed to be there just to have one. They treated the symptoms. He was an interesting character. He exhibited that kind of behavior. Yet, it could easily be his upbringing especially if growing up under and around hustlers. The guy might have never been taught better. So, I call that sort of thing bad character, a bit evil, but not all out psychopath in my book. This may not be everyone, but I tend to associate it with people who clearly have no conscience and seem to compulsively do these things. I've met them and they stand out from the average bad apple. Either the article or a commenter mentioned them getting back at people years later. The inability to let go without doing what they were compelled to do. Many I've met had that trait, too. That's why you figure out what pisses them off and avoid it. Assuming you can't avoid them... (sighs)

krylon 11y ago

One point the article should have made, IMHO, is that for any kind of personality disorder, it is a continuum, not a discrete true-or-false distinction. A medical doctor can clearly and unambiguously diagnose whether or not you have, say, Type-1-diabetes or a broken leg, there is no wiggle-room, it is not open to interpretation. With personality disorders, the definition is usually a list of symptoms of which a person has to show at least a certain number (e.g. 5 out of 9) to "qualify". But a person that shows, say, 4 out of 9 symptoms of Antisocial Personality Disorder, would still be very unpleasant to be around, even if he or she is not a sociopath from a clinical point of view. (I am making the numbers up to make a point - the actual length of the list and the number of symptoms one has to show for APD is probably different, but not radically so.)