“Not all monsters look dangerous. Some look exactly like everyone else.”

Not all of monsters fell the same, some fell nothing and other fell to much. An important note is that these are not clinical terms but they are considered to be inside of the antisocial disorder.

What is a psychopath ?

A psychopath is an individual with a personality disorder, characterized by lack of empathy, shallow emotions, impulsivity and persistent antisocial and criminal behavior. 

Main characteristics

• Lack of empathy and/or remorse: People with this trait tend to lack empathy, this could be towards humans and/or animals. 
• Manipulation and charm: Psychopaths tend to have a great ability to manipulate people into believing they are good people and/or exploit people based on their charm.
• Impulsivity: People with this personality disorder tend to not measure the risk, act without planning and the consequences of their actions in the moment.
• antisocial behavior: Humans with this trait tend to not understand and disregard  the social norms that society has imposed.
• Shallow emotions: they may appear like they have deep and personal emotions but they do not feel them. 

One of the more dangerous aspects of psychopaths is the fact that they can seem normal to the naked eye, and this can lead to people not noticing the dangerous person they are dealing with.

Now, what is a sociopath? 

A sociopath is an unofficial term for a person that is part of the antisocial personality disorder, characterized b y the disregard of the right or wrong, lack of empathy and manipulative behavior. 

Main characteristics

• Lack of empathy/ remorse: People with this disorder cannot comprehend or care about other persons feelings. 
• Manipulatives and aggression: They use charm and dishonesty to deceive people and exploit them. 
• Impulsivity and aggression: They tend to act without thinking about the consequences in others or on themselves, and are prone to have bursts of violence or anger. 
• Irresponsability: they tend to not be able to keep a job, social relationships, and/or follow the social norms.

So now, who is the most dangerous? 

It isn’t a simple answer but, in general the psychopath is the one considered more dangerous in the long run.

this is because 

• They have better emotional control.
• They plan their actions better.
• And they are able to manipulate better without generating suspicion. 

in the contrary of the sociopath, who acts more of an impulse, the psychopath can have a more sustainable “double life”. They don’t necessarily commit more crimes, but when they do, they are more calculated and difficult to detect. 

Who is most difficult to identify? 

The one that mostly goes unnoticed is the psychopath, because most of the time they have

• A stable job
• they are charismatic and charming 
• and they are good at imitating emotions even though they don’t feel them. 

All of this makes them fit better in society, because they can appear “normal” or even “successful”, that makes them more difficult to identify.

A sociopath tends to show more erratic and aggressive behaviors.

Why does society confuse them both?

This is mostly because 

• The media use them as if they are the same term or that if they are synonyms. 
• They are not clinical terms, the real one is antisocial personality disorder. 
• The movies or series simplify or exaggerate the profile. 

According to the American Psychological Association, this labels don’t have a strict definition in the clinical ambit. 

In the end, both of them share similar characteristics, but the difference is in how they feel, how they react and how they interact with the world.

“The real danger isn’t always violence… it’s how well it can hide.”