What if I was a sociopath?

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I have the ASD dx from when I was a kid...but lately I have been thinking about how charming I have always been and how I have manipulated people in the past...what if I a really a sociopath (which would be preferable to me tbh).

TBH I don't know of anybody who was given a formal diagnosis of autism as a child which turned out the be wrong in adulthood? It's possible of course either a) you are very mild and/or b) you have a comorbidity that overlaps with the diagnostic criteria for autism

If you have been able to socially manipulate NTs then you certainly have an ability that even many of us NTs don't have.

Just curious, why would being a sociopath be preferable for you?

Then you could be a good EMT...or at least that is something I have heard. Is more sociopathic people may not get traumatized as easily as others so some can presumably handle medical emergencies better without panicking.

I did hang out a bit with a person who claimed to be a sociopath and I think she was actually doing EMT training. She was actually pretty chill though, like she just openly said that and how she sometimes has to think more about her actions like whether it would harm people or not and make a more logical decision based on that since it was harder for her to have genuine empathy for others. I mean I figure if you meet one sociopath you met one and they probably don't speak for all but at least she seemed like a good person just had to go about being such a different way than most people.

Probably because sociopaths get what they want.

If you ignore morality...being a sociopath is obviously more advantageous than being an autistic. Autism is a handicap, and sociopathy is...whatever the opposite of a handicap...is.

But if she isnt already reaping the benifits of being a sociopath then it could be wishful thinking, and she might not be a sociopath after all.

Because people with autism, especially females, end up in abusive situations they struggle to get out for years on end.

I mean...you don’t know me IRL so how do you know what benefits I have or don’t.

And they do have some similarities.

And autistic people CAN be abusive. I don’t deal with people who claim one group of people is all one way or the other.

I did have a traumatic childhood.

And I think comorbidity could be something that could people possible...but popular opinion is those diagnoses are opposites of each other.

Regardless, I try to not cause people major issues...I tried that in high school and it was fun but as a way of life it would not work.

And what I would like to point out is this, diagnoses are made for various reasons in childhood.

And the DSM dx criteria for antisocial personality disorder (which encompasses sociopathy and psychopathy, different things btw).

A theory I had is, someone recognized I needed some kind of help, and they gave a diagnosis that fit at the time.

I never really did anything that would have triggered a diagnosis of Oppositional Defiance Disorder or Conduct Disorder. That was mainly because my mode is mostly quiet.

I will say, just because someone has some diagnosis, does not determine what kind of person they are.

Actions do.

I'm not disputing the possibility of a misdiagnosis. Psychologists are human and can be prone to error if they weren't thorough with your childhood trauama and/or other comorbidities.

I mean, it was known my father was an alcoholic.

However, I did hide some things from them. So maybe they didn’t know the entire situation.

I do deal with my issues now by having good boundaries. And by listening to what other people say.

What do people who know you say about your habits/characteristics? They observe you over a long period so might be able to objectively say if you are consistently doing things (e.g. not maintaining eye contact etc).

If you're querying whether autism is the correct diagnosis, consider whether you have the diagnostic traits.
That's the social communication issues, the repetitive behaviours etc.

Similarly, if you're querying whether you're a sociopath, I guess you might check yourself against those traits.
Like, do you feel any guilt when you treat people badly, break rules etc?

I can see how diagnostic confusion may have arisen by, say, an ignorant psychiatrist not understanding the nature of autistic empathy deficits.
But it should be easy to differentiate between the two conditions based on how bad you feel when you do things that hurt others, I would think. And considering if you do these things knowingly to get something you want (sociopathy) or by accident through misunderstandings (autism)?

Or else, might you have both conditions??

Sociopathy is about compulsive law-breaking.
Psychopathy is about lack of emotional attachment to morals.
Ability to manipulate people and appear charming is a survival skill that in controlled use is called diplomacy. It may just indicate your intelligence and self-control.

I mean...kinda but also...no.

There is a lot of hype around those and ASD I would say.

See my other comments.

And don’t ask me details about the sexual assaults please. I don’t discuss it much online.

Last edited by CollegeGirlAnon on 15 Feb 2021, 6:10 am, edited 2 times in total.

They cannot diagnose sociopathy in a child.

Also that diagnosis carries a lot of stigma.

And it can be a mix tbh of me doing things to get what I want and me doing things bc I don’t think.

There is a lot of hype I would say around both ASD and sociopathy.

With people with ASD, they seem to get away with a lot. It’s why I never bothered reporting the morons who sexually assaulted me. Because even apparently if you rape someone and you have ASD it seems like people are only going to be concerned if people in prison dislike you.

No one cares about the victim of this person.

With sociopathy, they are always the evil one. No matter what.

And tbh I am so over that.

I don’t care if the people who sexually assaulted me misunderstood what they were doing. Or if they did mean it.

They will likely never face consequences for their actions.

That’s a lot of rapists though.