Are sociopaths sick

Answer 1

One of the problems with having anything wrong with one's central nervous system is that if it's severe and pervasive enough, it can interfere with the autonomic and peripheral nervous systems as well.

In psychopaths, such maladies as what was once called neurasthenia (a state of unnatural sedation) or epilepsy(seizure disorders) are far more frequent than in the general population.

Many people who are not psychopaths have some of the more than 100 forms of peripheral neuropathy, but some of these may be more common in psychopaths.

The autonomic nervous system, which prepares the body for emergencies (fight-or-flight) is erratic and inefficient in a psychopath, which can, in some situations, lead to fatal accidents; human beings have adrenaline for a reason, and the sympathetic nervous system of a true psychopath is sluggish and cannot sustain arousal for long.

In sharp contrast to Anti-Social Personality Disorder(sociopathy) is another personality disorder, termed Borderline Personality Disorder, in which the problem is the opposite of the problem of the sociopath: the sympathetic nervous system of person with BPD responds too easily, too strongly, and way too often!

Meanwhile, in the true sociopath/psychopath, the fight-or-flight reaction is very brief, extremely difficult to sustain even in an emergency, and does not touch certain organs as it ought to do; sociopaths are chronically "bored" because they are literally half-asleep most of the time. (Even though they tend to look awake and behave in an alert, intense manner.)

As if all that isn't bad enough, a true psychopath has an extremely peculiar brainwave pattern: while awake, their brain waves most resemble a hybrid of normal waking brain waves and alpha-level sleep waves. They seem incapable of producing true beta waves. And they often tend to sleep deeply, although there are also documented cases of severe insomnia in psychopaths.

Emotionally, they are cold, detached, distant, and yet deeply resentful of normal people.

They know they're missing something, and often spend most of their typically short, tragic lives avenging themselves on others for what they cannot ever enjoy.

So they are not truly emotionless, but they do not love, do not ever know true joy, and are hostile and destructive.

This ISN'T the work of the Devil; it's Nature gone horribly awry.

ANYTHING THAT CAN DAMAGE THE DEVELOPING NERVOUS-SYSTEM IN A FETUS OR VERY YOUNG CHILD CAN CAUSE OR SEVERELY EXACERBATE THIS TRAGIC CONDITION.