Many special terms eventually penetrate from professional to colloquial speech. In particular, this applies to psychiatric definitions. For example, recently it has become fashionable to use the term “sociopath” to characterize an individual.
Initially, sociopaths were called people who were diagnosed with a dissocial personality disorder - a mental deviation, characterized by increased aggression in combination with rejection of social rules. In addition, people with such a deviation, as a rule, experience problems with the formation of various kinds of attachments: friendly, romantic, family.
The concept of sociopathy in psychiatry
From a medical point of view, sociopathy is a form of mental pathology: psychopathy. It must be understood that in this case it is not a matter of whim or poor upbringing, but of a real mental illness, as a result of which the individual forms a misconception about the relationship between people. Since sociopaths are not able to recognize the underlying motives of human attachment, they are sure that the only significant form of relationship is the manipulation of others to achieve their goals. Such people, as a rule, are selfish, preoccupied with their interests, and easily ignore public morality if its norms interfere with their plans. In addition, they are suspicious of others' attempts to get closer to them, believing that they just want to use them.
In a broader sense, a sociopath is a person who is prejudiced against most members of society, social norms and stereotypes, and is not shy about expressing this prejudice. As a rule, such individuals are quite unsociable, withdrawn and often aggressive.
Sociopathy and Misanthropy
Very often, sociopathy is confused with misanthropy, that is, with hostility towards all of humanity. Indeed, the external manifestations of sociopathy and misanthropy are similar, but we must not forget that sociopathy is a mental deviation, and misanthropy is just a system of views on the world and people. In addition, a significant difference between these concepts is that sociopaths, in the first place, are characterized by opposition to society and its laws, and misanthropes are characterized only by contrasting themselves with the rest of humanity.
Finally, sociopaths are not capable of various kinds of affection, while misanthropes, in principle, can be friends and fall in love. Another thing is that they make rather high demands on those people whom they are ready to admit to the “inner circle” of communication, which is why misanthropes, like sociopaths, are often alone.
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