How to Recognize a Sociopath

How to recognize a sociopath

Introduction

With the breakthroughs made so far in medicine, the modern society still has a lot to do in respect to people suffering from various types of mental illness. Tremendous milestones have been made in the field of psychology. However, in the society, it is hard to identify which acts or deeds manifest mental problems more so given the nature and complexity of these diseases. This is so because, unless exhibited to particular degrees and persistency, it's absolutely hard for a normal person to detect and see a problem in an individual. Psychologists among other medical practitioners have for long been dealing with the subject of mental disorders. They have made many breakthroughs in this field and advanced various ways to identify those with mental problems. This paper is going to look at what sociopath are, types of sociopaths, and thereof, their symptoms.

Sociopathy is a problem also known as Antisocial Personality Disorder. Sociopaths are people who do not conform to the general established ethical and acceptable settings of the society. They act in total disregard to fellow humans and social norms or settings. They steal, lie, and cheat on people without being affected by conscience. However outrageous their acts may be, sociopaths are mostly undeterred and unashamed by the responsibilities for their acts (Morris, 1998). These persons suffer from Antisocial Personality Disorder which is described as a total disregard for and violation of the rights of others (Rotgers & Maniacci, 2006). They usually elicit fear and are avoided since they do not care about the life and concerns of others and would endanger anybody as long as they achieve their goals. They are solely motivated by the desire to gain power, profit, and material gain above anything else. They use their skills to seduce and manipulate so as to get ahead (Kotsko, 2012).

It is estimated that the frequency of people who depict sociopathic behavior is almost at 4%. Amazingly many people do not know anything of this behavior nor are they aware of sociopaths in the society (Moon, 2011). However, since sociopathy is a mental disorder, sociopaths can be identified amongst the society. Mental disorder is a clinically significant behavior or pattern that occurs in an individual that has led to impairment or distress in social or occupational function that is not due to mental or physical illness or the physiological effects of drugs (Davidson, 2000).

Types and symptoms of sociopaths

In lieu to the advanced definition of mental disorder, sociopaths are classified into four groups namely common sociopath, alienated sociopath, aggressive sociopath, and dyssocial sociopath (Lykken,1995 ). These groups depict various characteristics that can aid one identify them. The following discussion will show the type of traits in each