I mean people like Sheldon from TBBT. He seems to lack any empathy and basic understanding of other people’s feelings.
What about con men, who can take the last cent from a blind beggar and not bat an eyelid? Iv’e seen business men con a family out of their house and home, leaving them sleeping on the streets, and not give it a second thought. Are these people psychopaths or is there another name? maybe sociopaths?
The usage and meaning of “psychopath” had changed from time to time, but I don’t there there has ever been a widely-accepted sense of the word in which psychopathy only refers to disorders or illnesses which lead the affected individual to kill people. It does, I think, suggest a disorder involving disinhibited aggressive or violent behaviour, but so does sociopathy.
I don’t think either term is used by clinicians nowadays; “antisocial personality disorder” is I think the diagnosis for someone who would be called a psychopath or a sociopath in common usage.
Yes, I think “antisocial personality disorder” is probably a better term to use.
Concur. Some people say there differences, but it’s really defined by the person bringing it up. Some think psycho- is stigmatizing, or sounds too much like other disorders. Or whether the cause depends more on social or biological sources.
Not feeling remorse is part of the diagnosis but it requires other things to be true too. They could also have something else, like narcissistic PD.
I haven’t really watched TBBT, but depends on what you mean by “lacking an understanding.” As I understand, he is more of the oblivious type, or at worst a jerk, but in more of an autistic way. Antisocial people know what social norms are, they just don’t care like others do (to varying degrees).
I am not an expert. The sources I’ve seen coincide in qualifying psychopathy as an imprecisely defined term. However, most definitions include something like “boldness” or “disinhibition,” which seem to be uncharacteristic of Jim Parson’s character. His roommate Leonard frequently has to point out to others that “he doesn’t realize it.”
IMO, cons and unscrupulous business practices don’t necessarily make someone a psychopath. For example, the businessmen you mention may have been facing dire circumstances and actually felt bad about what they did. Unlikely for sure, but putting a label on someone is not something to be taken lightly.
Sheldon is closer to having mild autism than psychopathy. He lacks empathy because he doesn’t understand other people, not because he doesn’t care about them. A psychopath (or sociopath, or person with antisocial personality disorder) may understand other people’s feelings very well but not care about them except as a means to an end.
And no, not all psychopaths are killers. A swindler like Bernie Madoff is a psychopath.
There’s nothing wrong with Shelly; his mother had him tested. Although she never did follow up with that specialist in Houston. Seriously—it’s possible that Sheldon is just a weird mofo. His behavior does not in any way impair him, or cause him ego dystonia, or harm anybody else. I’d say there’s nothing clinically wrong with him.
By it’s definition, yes, actually psychopath and sociopath are interchangeable words.
Traditionally, by the media, the term psychopath is used to describe only sociopathic killers.
I don’t think that TBBT’s Sheldon lacks empathy at all. He may misdirect his empathy to fictional characters or Leonard Nimoy, but it’s still there. It’s like the difference between somebody who is intellectually capable of reading, but suffering from a dyslexia that jumbles his words and somebody who just can’t read at all.
In our legal system (our = US but many other countries), the insanity defense is a rare occurrence that involves the suspect committing crimes while they are unaware of their actions. A schizophrenic who kills their kid because they believe he’s Satan (admittedly a very rare occurrence in schizophrenia) might successfully plead insanity, which means years of prison-like mental hospitals. But an antisocial person knows that murdering someone is illegal and considered morally wrong. But they don’t care as you say. They know it’s illegal, they understand why it is, but they don’t understand that they shouldn’t. This person will likely have an insanity defense rejected as they were in full control of their facilities, and could have resisted (even if that would be very difficult).
I don’t believe that terms like psychopath or schizophrenic have any clear meaning at all. They are just labels that the media use.
The show is aired over here too, and I would say the the Sheldon character is just inhibited and intolerant of other people’s perceived stupidity. In real life, he would probably not have any friends.
Schizophrenia is a very clear label, with very well established biological and genetic causes. The media misuses things, yes, but that doesn’t mean that they made them up. Unless you think L. Ron is the shit, the evidence is clear. Also, antisocial personality disorder (“psychopathy”) has scientific evidence.
The only problem is defining schizophrenia vs. schizoaffective disorder etc., but the delusions/hallucinations/cognitive symptoms at least put you in the right area.
Psychopaths (or whatever the DSM-V calls them these days) are legion in society; it’s estimated that 1 out of 100 people is a genuine psychopath. However, most of them never bother to kill anyone, they just go into business and politics.
It’s my pet theory that actual serial killers aren’t 100% psychopathic, that is, they aren’t completely bereft of conscience, morality, or empathy. Instead, their empathy is so restricted & constrained, that it takes a really big event – such as killing someone by their own hand – for them to feel any empathy at all. So in a strange way, serial killers become “addicted” to murder merely to feel the slightest sense of empathy, which normal human beings take for granted. It doesn’t excuse their actions, naturally…but like I said, it’s just my own pet theory.
This also applies to the main character in shows like Bones, Doc Martin, Sherlock, and The blacklist.
I wonder why there is this fascination with people who in real life we would avoid like the plague.
No, they are labels, diagnostic categories, that scientists and medical professionals use. The media and other laypeople may sometimes misuse the terms, and some laypeople (like you, apparently) may have no idea about their true meaning, or the the large mass of research that lies behind their scientific use, but neither your ignorance nor anyone else’s renders the terms meaningless.
A lot of mental disorders associated with murder can occur without murder. That many serial killers have a certain disorder usually means that millions of people also have it but don’t kill. If we look at setting fires, bedwetting, animal abuse, etc. I’d say it’s close to 100 to 1 of those who have it and don’t murder vs those that do. It’s kind of like saying 99% of serial killers are right handed, therefore right-handedness is an indicator of future violence.
In part because we only spend about 42 minutes with them per week not counting when the show is on hiatus.
Politics and business are areas where you need to be able to get along with other people to further your career and most sociopaths are incapable of doing that. However, some of them are capable of fooling people and when they get into positions of power they can often be very destructive to their fellow employees and the company itself.
The vast majority of psychopaths never kill. Those who score 25-30+ on the hare test make up anywhere from 1-5% of the population, but the vast majority will never kill anyone.
Other than lack of empathy, Sheldon Cooper doesn’t have any other traits of psychopathy. He has no sexual prowess, no charm, no criminal history, and he is very averse to lying. If anything (aside from the empathy and arrogance issue) he is more of an anti-psychopath.
Well, Sheldon does have quite the collection of framed restraining orders on his wall.
And in part because many of us spend much more than 42 minutes a week with morons who waste our time with stupid behavior and the absolute inability to give a straight answer or render an opinion that can be trusted. I find the open honesty of Sheldon and Bones refreshing. I wish my actual friends were more like them.
Sheldon isn’t a television character whose behavior could be seen as “psychopathic” or anti-social;however Shawn Spencer from Psych is one. While the show plays up his antics for laughs, his constant falsehoods, his inability to maintain a job or serious social relationships beyond a certain point and his willingness to break the (using Gus’ credit cards for example) all point to a deeply disturbed person. That he is able to seem amusing to others is simply part of his pathology.
Sheldon seems to be a person who lack the inability to read social cues and who has limited ability to interact well with others. While the TBBT makes this seem to be funny, it’s actually somewhat sad as in real life most people would soon tire of Sheldon’s behaviors and as he grew older they would become less tolerant of them. He would be a lone a great deal (especially after the deaths of his parents) and final years would be very unpleasant.