Are sociopaths basically insecure people

Answer 1

Interesting question!

According to popular classification, psychopaths are born as-is whereas sociopaths are made - often through a violent or abusive childhood. Psychopaths show little co-morbidity (co-existing mental health conditions) whereas sociopaths often exhibit many.

I don't think "insecure" would necessarily be the right term, but it could be argued that many sociopaths do at some level have a degree of low self esteem, either due to the initial experiences which eventually rendered them sociopathic, and then in addition in response to their condition.

They know there is no way others can really appreciate the real them fully without discomfort fear or alarm. They know they have something to hide, and that they must always hide it. On some level, they know there is something missing from their existence.

They revel in the fact they are "top of the food chain" they can hurt people without discretion, feel no remorse and not get hurt on any deeper level, however somewhere in there, even if completely unacknowledged, they may also resent the pain and isolation which is a trade-off for this, and in short, may at some level resent themself.

Answer 2

Some of them are and some of them aren't. Many are not unstable in the least, but those with sexual deviance or violent tendencies (amongst other things) often become unstable as they are prone to impulsivity and often need to go to greater and greater lengths to keep commiting crimes or continue sexual deviance (which is often progressive, similar to drug addiction), etc.

Answer 3

A lot of them do, yes. But there's chaos on a small scale (like in a family) and on a large scale (like being a serial killer). They range the entire spectrum.