A reader asked me to address other personality disorders associated with sociopathy besides narcissism. Narcissism and sociopathy are on the same cluster with the other "emotional" disorders -- Borderline Personality Disorder and Histrionic Personality Disorder. According to wikipedia, the cluster breaks down as follows:
What about everyone else? Are there connections between sociopathy and other personality disorders that I am not aware of?
Antisocial personality disorder: "pervasive disregard for the law and the rights of others."I don't necessarily agree with these one-sentence descriptions. In fact, I don't believe that sociopathy is necessarily the same thing as APD. Like Dr. Robert Hare, I think APD isn't specific enough to give a good picture of sociopathy, and that the two do not necessarily share all of the same characteristics. Consequently, although I consider myself a high functioning sociopath because of my weak sense of empathy, failure to conform to social norms, manipulativeness, etc., I do not necessarily believe that i have APD. Nor do I think I have any of the other personality disorders with the possible exception of very mild Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, which helps me fight my impulsiveness.
Borderline personality disorder: extreme "black and white" thinking, instability in relationships, self-image, identity and behavior
Histrionic personality disorder: "pervasive attention-seeking behavior including inappropriate sexual seductiveness and shallow or exaggerated emotions
Narcissistic personality disorder: "a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and a lack of empathy"
What about everyone else? Are there connections between sociopathy and other personality disorders that I am not aware of?
