Sociopath Traits

An individual suffering from an antisocial personality disorder, wherein he is so absorbed in his imaginary life that it is impossible for him to learn from his mistakes is called a sociopath. Such an individual derives unknown pleasure from activities which are considered taboo.

• These individuals are pretty self-confident, intelligent, and focused. Though they are highly successful, they achieve this success by socially unacceptable means.
• They possess a largely unnecessary sense of self-worth and superficial charm, which helps them make a good first impression.

• They adopt a particular belief system based on a logic of their own and seldom have any doubts.
• They can inspire people around them to create a separate culture parallel to the existing society. They are very successful in creating a base of gullible supporters who worship them.
• In some cases, strange ideas substitute reality for these individuals.

• They deal with issues with a selective perception, rationalizing it or questioning its credibility. After sometime, their thoughts allow them to drift to criminal or antisocial activities.

• They don't care about the safety of other people around them. In fact, they derive sheer fun from other people's sufferings.
• They are irresponsible and impulsive, so it is wise to not depend on them. They can lie easily, as they don't feel uneasy about it.

• They can be very deceitful and manipulative. There are chances of a sociopath easily gulling a lie-detector test.
• They lack emotions such as guilt, remorse, love, or empathy. They demonstrate a casual and unrestrained sexual behavior.

• They tend to be violent and aggressive, and quite often indulge in verbal or physical abuse of others.
• They suffer from narcissism triggered due to their mentally disturbed condition.

• These egocentric individuals often tend to rationalize their actions with illogical reasoning.
• They don't have any definite aim in life. Planning about their career or future is never a priority for these individuals.

• Boredom is intolerable for these individuals. Owing to an idle life and desire of something, they often take to social taboos such as alcoholism and drug abuse.

• It's difficult for them to distinguish between right and wrong. Though they often threaten to commit suicide, they don't really carry out such threats.
• Overconfident by nature, they have a self-induced belief that they are smart enough to wriggle out of any situation.

• They often demonstrate intense negative emotions, such as sudden outbursts of anger or hostile behavior, despite the fact that such reactions result in disassociation from society and losses in professional life. On the contrary, they tend to take this isolation as an inspiration to continue with their stubborn nature.

As a sociopath lacks conscience, he feels free to do whatever he wants, regardless of it being against the accepted norms. Research reveals that physical pain or punishment is immaterial for people suffering from such antisocial personality disorders.

There is no definite cure for the condition. Psychotherapy measures, like aversive conditioning and positive conditioning, and reconditioning techniques, like sexual impulse control training, are often used to treat these people, but the rate of success is very low.