A Return to Sociopathy: Origin(s) and the Inner Triangle

As mentioned previously on this blog, two great resources in the field of study of sociopathy are both the website lovefraud.com and the nonfictional accounts detailed in The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout. Today's piece follows two quick trends detailing the personality disorder: it's origin and seemingly incurable nature and a more detailed, defined model for what sociopaths lack within themselves.

The debate over sociopathy/psychopathy has been waging for more than five decades. Books, peer-reviewed psychology journals, the DSM-IV and "experts" in the field have thrown the two words around and their apparent definitions. Perhaps its a questionable subject to approach based on personal beliefs, because one school of thought attributes individuals possessing sociopathy and psychopathy to have been there since birth. This would seem to entail, then, that individuals could be born "bad" or "evil," something a religious or optimist may not accept. Other schools will describe the personality disorder as stemming from a medical or physical injury. While the last will say the disorder is learned, from childhood onward, through environmental factors such as their socioeconomic status, parental rearing, peers or a significantly low or high intelligence.

Well if we accept any three of the origin schools of thought for this PD, they each equally dictate the same story for managing the illness. There is none. The illness since its "discovery" has largely been passed over because of a universally accepted belief of it being "untreatable and no interventions have proved to be effective." Empathy is not something you can buy over the counter and take with injections. There is no talking out in a session that will rekindle a conscious. In fact, studies have been conducted across the board that therapy in the conventional sense, or rehabilitation will only assist sociopaths in both further masking their abilities and defects, and gaining a better understanding as to how to manipulate their surroundings. Essentially moves to help these individuals have assisted them in only better understanding human nature and psychology for personal benefit. 

The Triangle

On the lovefraud website, the origin school of thought in regards to genetic traits is taken, a contributor Liane J. Leedom, M.D. describes an inner triangle that exists in each and every person. Leedom states that said inner triangle is lacking in individuals with addictions, alcoholism, ADHD, sociopathy and the like. And being that the three sides of the triangle are an ability to love, moral reasoning and impulse control, one begins to draw upon the importance of Leedom's theory. 

Without an ability to love, sociopaths may experience fleeting feels of affection, a drive to be with another person. But in lacking empathy, sociopaths have no guards against hurting the friends and family close to them. Caring, then, is for a hidden agenda, as a sociopath will never sacrifice their own desires for another person. 

Sociopaths lack impulse control, making them overly sexual and at times, very aggressive. Moreover this side of the triangle conducts planning, foresight and a consideration of consequences for one's actions. Rarely is any of the planning stages of an action put to use for sociopaths. Actions then are driven by  one of the basic  human motivators: "nourishment, comfort, physical contact with other people, sex, social dominance, material possessions and entertainment." For sociopaths, it leans toward the four latter.

And while sociopath know the rules and laws of the land, can recite them when asked, the rules are ruled out in their actions. Leedom believes narcissism plays a large role in this side of the triangle, in that sociopaths first do not believe the rules apply to them for whatever reason, and when the action is carried out, give little to no afterthought to what has occurred. This one-two punch allows the sociopath to act with moral impunity in their minds, again and again.