12 Thoughts on How to Write a Psychopath Vs a Sociopath
What is a Psychopath?
Psychopath Definition
Psychopathy according to Healthline “The true definition of a psychopath in psychiatry is antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), explains Dr. Prakash Masand, a psychiatrist and the founder of the Centers of Psychiatric Excellence. ASPD describes an individual who shows patterns of manipulation and violation to others.”
Psychopath Traits
Signs and symptoms of a Psychopath can include:
- Behavior that is socially not tolerated
- Lack of respect for others
- Lack of care and concern for others
- Cannot perceive right from wrong
- Aggression
Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash
Other Characteristics of a Psychopath
- Violates the rights of others without remorse
- Hard time showing sympathy and empathy
- Chronic lying
- Manipulating others with sinister intent
Behaviors of a Psychopath
- Seeks to harm others for self-gain
- Takes pleasure in harming others
- Doesn’t feel remorse
- Lack of risk awareness
- Superficial charm
- Abuse (Not always violent)
Ways to Spot Signs of a Psychopath
- Repeated trouble with the law
- Catching them in many lies with no intent to stop lying
- No remorse when caught hurting someone
- Justifies bad behavior
- Justifies selfish behavior
- Doesn’t understand why it’s wrong to hurt others
- Disregard toward safety
- Lack of responsibility
- Use the person’s medical history.
- See what prescriptions they have.
- See what legal and illegal substances they are using.
- Interview friends and family to find out about habitual behaviors.
- Interview relationships past and present.
- Find out how many relationships they have at a time.
- Reckless behavior
- Overly aggressive
- It’s thought to occur more in men
- Higher mortality rate because of behavior
Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.
If you enjoy 12 Thoughts on How to Write a Psychopath Vs a Sociopath, Storytelling and writing in general, you might love owning a domain of your own where you can write about it? Ever want to own your own domain name (Yourname.com)?
Bluehost hosts your blog so that you can own your domain and make money blogging. Check them out only if you’re interested in making money blogging; otherwise, go for a free blog instead 🙂
Try Grammarly, The Free tool that should be in every writer’s toolbelt.
Check this out.
Interview the person in question to see how they feel about:
- Safety
- Lying
- Relationships
- Friendship
- Family
- The law
- Consequences
- Money
- Mistakes they’ve made
- Legal trouble they’re in or have gone through
Psychopath Vs Narcissist
Is a Psychopath a Narcissist?
Narcissist Definition
Google Narcissist Definition: a person who has an excessive interest in or admiration of themselves.
Both Psychopaths and Narcissists are self-absorbed, but carry this out in different ways. A Narcissist may end hurting someone because of their narcissistic behavior, but not intentionally and they won’t enjoy the harm of others.
A Psychopath like a sociopath may choose to harm others as a motive and would enjoy it and feel no remorse, and even excuse the behavior in their own mind.
What is a High-Functioning Psychopath?
The thought is that a high-functioning psychopath is much better at hiding their true bad motives and is able to rise the ranks in social settings.
They more easily become upper management and bosses in social settings and business settings. In some cases, it is easier for them to excel in business and climb the ladder because they lack a feeling of risk and remorse.
What would a secondary character experience, being close to a character with ASPD?
Some characters don’t get to choose who is in their life. You as the writer of their story get to choose that.
They don’t get to choose their
- Brothers
- Sisters
- Mothers
- Fathers
- Cousins
- Aunts
- Uncles
- Grandmother
- Grandfather
- Teammates
- Kids at School
- Coworkers
- College roommates
- Children
They do get to choose
- Wife
- Husband
- Girlfriend
- Boyfriend
- Business Partner
- Friend
- Apartment roommate
- Adopted Daughter/Son
Seeing all these possible relationships, any of them could be a character with psychopathic behaviors and the controversy that comes out of relationships like these could be vast. In other words, there is a lot of material to work with here.
Your character may not know how to deal with the other character in their life that is a psychopath.
But some things to consider as possible behaviors or consequences:
- Set boundaries
- They may abandon the character
- They may choose to leave
- List out consequences for bad behavior
- Make ultimatums
- May be an enabler
- May accept bad treatment
- May make excuses for them
- May be in denial
- May be a co-conspirator in their bad behavior
- May both be Sociopathic, working together
- May try to run from the other character
- May try to disappear with the kids
- May try to get them kicked out
- May try to get the other character fired
- May try to force them to seek help
There are many interesting possibilities.
Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.
If you enjoy 12 Thoughts on How to Write a Psychopath Vs a Sociopath, Storytelling and writing in general, you might love owning a domain of your own where you can write about it? Ever want to own your own domain name (Yourname.com)?
Bluehost hosts your blog so that you can own your domain and make money blogging. Check them out only if you’re interested in making money blogging; otherwise, go for a free blog instead 🙂
Try Grammarly, The Free tool that should be in every writer’s toolbelt.
Check this out.
What type of treatment would a character with Psychopathic Behaviors seek?
If you do want to write your Psychopathic character seeking treatment here are some realistic ideas:
- A loved one forces them to seek help
- Legal authorities force them to seek help
- They seek help for entertainment and curiosity
Ways a Psychopath can attempt to seek help
Medication that may be prescribed
- Anti-depressants
- Anti-anxiety
- Anti-aggression
- Clozaril has been used in some cases
Psychotherapy may be attempted
This would involve scenes of them talking with a therapist about their thoughts, beliefs, and feelings. Not just revolving around psychopathology.
They may attempt religious help
This would involve scenes of talking to a pastor. Or attended church services. Maybe a salvation experience.
This could involve scenes talking to priests or making confessions.
They could be seen talking to a neighbor or friend they know to be religious.
Behavioral Therapy
This may involve scenes of them speaking to a professional about their behaviors, recognizing that they are negative behaviors and seeking to replace them with better behaviors.
Sociopath Versus Psychopath
What’s the difference between a Sociopath and Psychopath?
There is not much difference according to Healthline. It is a controversial subject about whether or not a distinction can be made.
Some claim that there is little to no difference whatsoever and that what some psychologists have come to call psychopaths and sociopaths are both just similar symptoms of ASPD.
While other Psychologists claim that there are differences.
One profound thought is that Psychopathy is just a more severe form of Sociopathy.
For more detailed information on what may be a Sociopath check out: 12 Thoughts on How to Write a Sociopath Vs a Psychopath to get more ideas for your stories.
List of famous psychopaths
- Dennis Rader, also known as “The BTK Killer”
- Vlad “the Impaler”
- Zodiac Killer
- Jeffrey Dahmer
- Albert DeSalvo, also known as “The Boston Strangler”
- Jack “the Ripper”
- Richard Ramirez, also known as “The Night Stalker”
- Ted Bundy
- Charles Manson
- Ed Gein “Butcher of Plainfield”
Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.
If you enjoy 12 Thoughts on How to Write a Psychopath Vs a Sociopath, Storytelling and writing in general, you might love owning a domain of your own where you can write about it? Ever want to own your own domain name (Yourname.com)?
Bluehost hosts your blog so that you can own your domain and make money blogging. Check them out only if you’re interested in making money blogging; otherwise, go for a free blog instead 🙂
Try Grammarly, The Free tool that should be in every writer’s toolbelt.
Check this out.
Psychopath Test
Consider taking a Psychopath Test to get more ideas for writing a Psychopath Versus a Sociopath.
Use these thoughts to write a captivating Psychopath in your story. The Psychopathic character with ASPD does not inherently have to be the “bad guy” or “the villain.”
A character with ASPD could be the protagonist or the antagonist of the story.
Get creative and figure out ways to surprise readers by writing outside the box!
This post is in no way meant to be medical or professional advice. This is intended for the enjoyment of research and creative writing.
Hope this helps! Happy Writing!
Other Popular Posts you might find fascinating:
How to Write From Your Villain’s Mind.
10 Tips How to Write Villains that Play Mind Games with Their Victims
4 Tips How to Write your Character Hitting Rock Bottom
10 Toxic Bad Habits That’ll Crush Your Fictional Character’s Relationships
5 Tricks How to Hide Your Villain Right Before Their Eyes
How To Write 4 Scenes That Reveal Who Your Character Is Seamlessly
Psychopath: How to Write The Perfect Psychopath
8 Tips How to Write the Perfect Sociopath
Fictional Characters: 28+ Bad Habits to Introduce to Your Fictional Characters
List of 10 Weapons for Fictional Characters
List of 10 Bad Habits Fictional Characters Need Help Breaking
We hope you enjoyed: 12 Thoughts on How to Write a Psychopath Vs a Sociopath
Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.
If you enjoy 12 Thoughts on How to Write a Psychopath Vs a Sociopath, Storytelling and writing in general, you might love owning a domain of your own where you can write about it? Ever want to own your own domain name (Yourname.com)?
Bluehost hosts your blog so that you can own your domain and make money blogging. Check them out only if you’re interested in making money blogging; otherwise, go for a free blog instead 🙂
Try Grammarly, The Free tool that should be in every writer’s toolbelt.
Check this out.
Interested in starting a blog of your own? Check out Bluehost.
If you enjoy 12 Thoughts on How to Write a Psychopath Vs a Sociopath, Storytelling and writing in general, you might love owning a domain of your own where you can write about it? Ever want to own your own domain name (Yourname.com)?
Bluehost hosts your blog so that you can own your domain and make money blogging. Check them out only if you’re interested in making money blogging; otherwise, go for a free blog instead 🙂
Try Grammarly, The Free tool that should be in every writer’s toolbelt.
Check this out.
Make sure your posts are readable. Use this readability score check
Want to check out a writer’s community to test your writing and get feedback?
Check out these FREE trial resources from Amazon for when you work from home (or are stuck at home 🙂 )
Free Prime Membership Trial:
Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial
Try Prime Discounted (Free Trial)
Make your Free Amazon Wedding Registry:
Create an Amazon Wedding Registry
Get Free Video Channels Trial with Prime:
Join Prime Video Channels Free Trial
Try Free Amazon Family Trial:
Join Amazon Family (30 day Free Trial)
Get Unlimited Music for Free (30 day free trial):
Free movies and TV shows trial:
Join Amazon Prime – Watch Thousands of Movies & TV Shows Anytime – Start Free Trial Now
Free Prime for students trial:
Free Baby Registry:
Shop Amazon – Create an Amazon Baby Registry
Free trial of Twitch Prime:
And for when you REALLY work at home:
Create Amazon Business Account
It is the Amazon you love, for work. Make workplace procurement easier with convenient delivery options, simplified purchasing workflows, multiple payment options, and a competitive marketplace with business-only pricing and quantity discounts. Anyone who makes purchases for work (eg. procurement specialists, office administration, IT departments, etc.) can create a FREE account for their business. Customer must be from a verified business in order to successfully create their Amazon Business account.
What Are Your Writing Insecurities? You write for yourself of course, but there is a small part of you that Read more
Are You Having Trouble Creating Your Fictional Town? If you are like many other creative writers fictional towns are a Read more
7 Tips How to Create a Healthy Reading Habit Let’s be honest, the easiest way to start any habit is Read more
5 Oppressive Settings for World Building 1. Violent Religions Violent religions come and go with time, but some stick around Read more
