Surely, throughout our lives we have heard and even used the words: Psychopath, Sociopath, Neurotic or Psychotic to refer to some behavior * abnormal * or out of the ordinary in another person.
But the question is: Do we know what each of these adjectives/nouns really mean?
Probably not.
Of course, we know that we are talking about some imbalance in the psyche of an individual. But the thing is a bit more complex.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN: Psychopathy, Sociopathy, Psychotic and Neurosis.
- Psychopath or psychopathy:
The cause of this dysfunction is most of the time in childhood.
Issues such as behaviors in the family environment, develop in the subject the inability to feel empathy, and/or regret, and therefore remorse.
A very noticeable characteristic in these people is that they are terribly EGOCENTRIC, and this can be easily observed; because they tend to sadistic behavior with others (abuse, humiliation, etc).
However, these individuals are not necessarily criminal by default. In fact, most psychopaths usually behave with normality in society. Which means that their actions are individual, and not collective.
The corrupt, swindlers, despotes and aggressors, are a clear example of this pathology.
- Sociopath or sociopathy:
This pathology, leads the subject to be against society and its rules. The cause of this is almost always in adolescence and/or in the middle age, as a result of traumas produced in relationships with the people of the closest environment.
When the case arises, these experiences influence negatively in their reasoning (cognition), thus confusing the appropriate emotions, which will trigger in an antisocial behavior.
Unlike psychopaths, these subjects focus their attention on group level, and not on an individual level.
Some serious examples of this pathology are: terrorists, sects, gang members, etc.
- Neurosis or neurotic:
The neurotic personality is one that maintains high defense mechanisms to avoid facing emotions, thoughts, or instances of reality (both internal and external) that are threatening.
In other words, also it can be defined as a strategy that develops the individual to avoid the unacceptable (disappointment, frustration, anger ...), often what the subject tries to avoid is the feeling of existential angst or anxiety.
The main characteristic of the neurotic individuals is that rejects aspects of them internal reality from them own consciousness, distancing themself from feelings, thoughts or desires, through rigid patterns of action or psychological strategies that them has automated and therefore uses without realizing it.
In neurosis, unlike in psychosis, there is no loss of reality, in the sense that it does not suffer from hallucinations, or in other words, the conception of what is real is adapted to what society defines as real and therefore of "normal" thinking.
- Psychotic or psychotic state:
This condition usually occurs in episodes, which are caused by the consumption/abuse of substances such as: narcotics, psychotropic drugs, alcohol, etc.
These substances can't only act as provocateurs, but can also act as amplifiers of episodes of fury, which, depending on the case, can turn into an acute psychopathological disorder.
Extreme stress, and certain mood states are also associated with episodes of psychosis.
This pathology, produces the loss of judgment or the temporary disconnection with reality.
Serious examples of psychotics are found in: Femicides, some suicides, circumstantial homicides, passionate murderers, etc.
IN CONCLUSION
These terms have in common the dysfunction of some mental capacities, of the individual who suffers it. Which influences negatively on their cognitive-emotional situation (between what they know: REALITY, and what they feel: THE EMOTION), as a determinant of interpersonal relationships at a general level.
The cognitive-emotional situation acts in an evident and obvious way, as a trigger for some antisocial, or deviant behaviors, which may be in the mildest, indolent and illegal cases. But in some cases much more serious, could become criminal, dehumanized or inhuman.
Each of these disorders affect the social interaction of both the person who suffers, and the people around him/her.
The differences between each one of these pathologies are located in the "why" (or the causes that cause it), and also in the manifestations and development of each one of them.
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