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dark hippy
Creeping&Crawling


Registered: 05/05/13
Posts: 71
Loc: Michigan
Last seen: 9 years, 7 months
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i need help figuring out whats wrong with my brother
#19300524 - 12/19/13 11:17 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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For as long as i can remember there has been something wrong with my brother, mentally. My brother is a pathological liar and compulsive stealer, and my whole family knows this and he keeps continuing to lie and steal to everyone! You could watch him steal a lighter right in front for you and he would deny it to your face. Last year my grandpa who he lives with helped him out with his car with his tax return money and he was supposed to pay him back,, NEVER did, hasnt paid him a cent and hes been living there for over 4 years, everytime they ask him theres just another "accuse" everytime. Literally nothing out of his mouth is the truth, about what he does, who his friends out. Honestly all we know him for is the lies he continues to live. The reason why i know something is wrong with him is because he is INCREDIBLY smart. The stuuf he is interested he could tell you the exact about it and everything. He could honestly tell you more about WW2 then a WW2 veteran could, and more. Everything about cars, planes , 80s rock bands, hes a fucking encyclopedia, and thats what gets me.. He refuses to go to a psychiatrist of talk to anyone about it, and weve been trying for years for him to go. Lately his actions gotten worse and i want to get a right direction to look into helping him.
thank you all
-------------------- "It ain't nothing but more hot shit Another classic CD for y'all to vibe with Whether you're cooling on a corner with your fly bitch Laid back in the shack, play this track I'm representing for the gangsters all across the world"
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Sheekle
FREE BURKE



Registered: 01/11/10
Posts: 53,153
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Re: i need help figuring out whats wrong with my brother [Re: dark hippy] 3
#19300527 - 12/19/13 11:18 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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acid in da brain
shrooms in da brain
all dat dey'll
is make him a lil sane
-------------------- "Ur cat died because he hated u" - Koods "I hope JSB kicks your ass one day." - Vandago "you are the biggest 'internet guy' I have ever come across"- Jokeshopbeard "The more I see you post the more I realize you're just this fuckin tie dye loser who trolls the Shroomery 24/7." - Herbologist "Sheekle you cannot vile the dice of bullshit you have posted on this forum over the years, I like databases" - thelastoneleft "or maybe i just come from a blood line of superior intelligence" - trees R.I.P Kelsy, ?/?/?? - 6/11/16
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dark hippy
Creeping&Crawling


Registered: 05/05/13
Posts: 71
Loc: Michigan
Last seen: 9 years, 7 months
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Re: i need help figuring out whats wrong with my brother [Re: Sheekle]
#19300536 - 12/19/13 11:20 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Psychs are not good for this guy at all. Like i think that could set odd schizophrenia in him or something
-------------------- "It ain't nothing but more hot shit Another classic CD for y'all to vibe with Whether you're cooling on a corner with your fly bitch Laid back in the shack, play this track I'm representing for the gangsters all across the world"
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theRAPeutic
Hueman


Registered: 07/22/13
Posts: 8,702
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Re: i need help figuring out whats wrong with my brother [Re: dark hippy]
#19300560 - 12/19/13 11:27 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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A bit of a stretch but maybe a sociopath or sociopathic tendencies... Does he have any conscience about the stealing and lying?
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dark hippy
Creeping&Crawling


Registered: 05/05/13
Posts: 71
Loc: Michigan
Last seen: 9 years, 7 months
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Re: i need help figuring out whats wrong with my brother [Re: theRAPeutic]
#19300579 - 12/19/13 11:34 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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No conscience at all for stealing and lying. Its gotten so bad my grand parents have to follow him round sometimes when he does shit hes not supposed to do. Hes stolen things from my apartment, my friends things from my apartment, FAMILY heirlooms to sell for money, pawned my aunts 10000 wedding ring and only got like 400 for it. He does not care for anyone but him self. No matter how much we help him he stabs us in the back everytime.
-------------------- "It ain't nothing but more hot shit Another classic CD for y'all to vibe with Whether you're cooling on a corner with your fly bitch Laid back in the shack, play this track I'm representing for the gangsters all across the world"
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k00laid
NEMO


Registered: 05/03/10
Posts: 19,636
Last seen: 6 months, 4 days
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Re: i need help figuring out whats wrong with my brother [Re: dark hippy]
#19300581 - 12/19/13 11:35 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
dark hippy said: Psychs are not good for this guy at all. Like i think that could set odd schizophrenia in him or something
http://www.maps.org/ritesofpassage/lsdhandbook.html
reed this.
-------------------- AMU - AMU Q & A - MyVideo Teks!
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larry.fisherman
shoulda died already



Registered: 11/03/12
Posts: 36,294
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Re: i need help figuring out whats wrong with my brother [Re: k00laid]
#19300602 - 12/19/13 11:40 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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He's a sociopath. Deep down, he does not care for anyone but himself. The rules do not apply to him. Does that sound familiar? If it does you can either live with it or don't.
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sukhavati12
Level 50 Mushroom Shaman



Registered: 07/03/13
Posts: 184
Last seen: 3 years, 6 months
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Re: i need help figuring out whats wrong with my brother [Re: larry.fisherman]
#19300622 - 12/19/13 11:44 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Probably a sociopath but without a professional diagnosis, who knows?
Psychedelics aren't a cure-all for psychological problems.
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dark hippy
Creeping&Crawling


Registered: 05/05/13
Posts: 71
Loc: Michigan
Last seen: 9 years, 7 months
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Re: i need help figuring out whats wrong with my brother [Re: larry.fisherman]
#19300628 - 12/19/13 11:46 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Honestly thats what i really think it is. But what kind of sociopath needs in depth knowledge about WW2? Like its a scary amount about how much he could tell you about every single ship that was in WW2. Or another weird thing is he could tell you how many black people were in the class of 1954-? at some random abandoned school.
-------------------- "It ain't nothing but more hot shit Another classic CD for y'all to vibe with Whether you're cooling on a corner with your fly bitch Laid back in the shack, play this track I'm representing for the gangsters all across the world"
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larry.fisherman
shoulda died already



Registered: 11/03/12
Posts: 36,294
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Re: i need help figuring out whats wrong with my brother [Re: sukhavati12]
#19300635 - 12/19/13 11:49 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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I did acid with a guy I knew was a sociopath. He pushed things so far that I started imagining myself killing him. He was destroying my house, trying to make my girlfriend get on her hands and knees to clean up after his ass. I ended up kicking my own front door in because he was threatening to break my guitar, because he thought it was funny.
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SteelPanther


Registered: 05/28/12
Posts: 3,453
Loc: The Energy
Last seen: 7 years, 11 months
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Re: i need help figuring out whats wrong with my brother [Re: larry.fisherman]
#19300655 - 12/19/13 11:54 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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He is a psychopath, and most likely will be like that his whole life. Personally I think psychedelics are the only thing that could help. Nothing will change a psychopaths mind, they simply do not care about anything or anyone besides themself, nothing.
-------------------- Everything I say on here is not true, I am an insecure person who lies about doing drugs and stuff to make myself feel good. So any illegal things I may have talked about are all fictional.
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dark hippy
Creeping&Crawling


Registered: 05/05/13
Posts: 71
Loc: Michigan
Last seen: 9 years, 7 months
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Re: i need help figuring out whats wrong with my brother [Re: larry.fisherman]
#19300656 - 12/19/13 11:54 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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I've heard from a few people he went to a party once and they got him to smoke some saliva and he flipped shit. like running around, and ran his car in the ditch
-------------------- "It ain't nothing but more hot shit Another classic CD for y'all to vibe with Whether you're cooling on a corner with your fly bitch Laid back in the shack, play this track I'm representing for the gangsters all across the world"
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larry.fisherman
shoulda died already



Registered: 11/03/12
Posts: 36,294
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Re: i need help figuring out whats wrong with my brother [Re: dark hippy]
#19300664 - 12/19/13 11:58 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
dark hippy said: I've heard from a few people he went to a party once and they got him to smoke some saliva and he flipped shit. like running around, and ran his car in the ditch
Anyone who smokes salvia and runs their car in to a ditch is either not very smart for driving right after since it's such a heavy muscle relaxant, or is a complete drama queen. No that I don't believe you, but it even sounds weird to hear someone drove in to a ditch after salvia. If I cared this is where I would put in a LOLWUT pear.
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sukhavati12
Level 50 Mushroom Shaman



Registered: 07/03/13
Posts: 184
Last seen: 3 years, 6 months
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Re: i need help figuring out whats wrong with my brother [Re: dark hippy]
#19300666 - 12/19/13 11:58 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
dark hippy said: Honestly thats what i really think it is. But what kind of sociopath needs in depth knowledge about WW2? Like its a scary amount about how much he could tell you about every single ship that was in WW2. Or another weird thing is he could tell you how many black people were in the class of 1954-? at some random abandoned school.
Could be some asperger's or HFA mixed in there. But again, without a psychologist, you can't know.
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my3rdeye



Registered: 08/10/12
Posts: 4,354
Loc: Canada
Last seen: 2 years, 8 months
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Re: i need help figuring out whats wrong with my brother [Re: SteelPanther]
#19300674 - 12/20/13 12:02 AM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
SteelPanther said: He is a psychopath, and most likely will be like that his whole life. .
That's what I thought upon reading it too. Go thru the Psychopathy checklists here, you have already mentioned a few.
http://psychopathyawareness.wordpress.com/2011/10/03/the-list-of-psychopathy-symptoms/
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Mitchnast
Toadmonger



Registered: 10/27/99
Posts: 8,656
Loc: Okanagan
Last seen: 16 days, 14 hours
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Re: i need help figuring out whats wrong with my brother [Re: larry.fisherman]
#19300693 - 12/20/13 12:08 AM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Sociopaths do not respond to therapy. It can be impossible to uproot them from your lives because they will guilt the shit out of you and seem truly hurt. In their minds, they might even BE feeling hurt, But the sentiment is twisted with entitlement with lack of empathy. A sociopath confuses importance of relationships with importance of having resources around for them to take advantage of. I'ts very difficult to understand the psychology, Just imagine they have the selfishness and unaccountability of a two year old, but the reasoning intellect of social engineer. Antisocial behaviors such as threats of physical harm, emotional abuse, dishonesty, and marked lack of empathy are all hallmarks. Some schools don't differentiate between sociopathy and psychopathy. The general difference (in my understanding) is that a psychopath seeks a reward response from the antisocial behavior, repeating and escalating behaviors to illicit misery or feelings of power over others. A sociopath simply is a fucking asshole who doesn't give a shit about anyone, most notably, those who care about them.
Frame of reference is also important to consider. An addict can become like a sociopath if the rewards and consequences of their addiction have gradually modified their reward-seeking perceptions to view family or friends as resources to achieve the effect of a high, or relief from a withdraw. A wretched hated life of bad conscience that's a backseat to the addict life of chasing rewards and staying ahead of disaster. Family and friends are fragile, inconstant rewards one becomes disillusioned with when a more reliable reward is available, particularly at the expense of those less reliable rewards; Good health, shelter, a career, family.
A true sociopath became disillusioned with the whole prospect of rewards from healthy relationships at an early age. High intelligence can play a factor in this. When a child finds they have power over enabling parents and peers, they become inculcated in a system where they are the only important thing. They learn that rewards are quick to obtain and people are malleable commodities. Delayed gratification is not one of their usual virtues.
Not being a sociopath, it may seem unconscionable to disavow your relative. For a grandparent, the feeling would be even greater, For they are vulnerable in emotion, and physically, they cant move away, they just want to live out their lives loving their children and grandchildren forever. Its something I feel strongly. And I'm sure you'll agree, But think of it as a long-delayed gratification, to live and die in absolute love. Nothing could be more alien to a sociopath. The very idea that their love is a value to their grandparents is merely a philosophical obstacle to getting as much as they can, WHILE they can, to use for their own selfish indulgences.
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Set
candy colored clown


Registered: 10/03/08
Posts: 6,383
Loc: right near da beach
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Re: i need help figuring out whats wrong with my brother [Re: dark hippy]
#19300698 - 12/20/13 12:10 AM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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He most likely isn't a sociopath I'm not mocking you or saying he isn't, I'm just saying it's unlikely.
Is there anything else about his history that you care to share?
For instance, how old is he now?
Other stuff like information about his childhood, his relationship with his parents, you, and others would be helpful.
--------------------
classic LOVELINE
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sukhavati12
Level 50 Mushroom Shaman



Registered: 07/03/13
Posts: 184
Last seen: 3 years, 6 months
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Re: i need help figuring out whats wrong with my brother [Re: my3rdeye]
#19300761 - 12/20/13 12:32 AM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Sociopathy exists on a gradient, so first, don't think he's completely one way or the other. Also, most sociopaths or people with sociopathic qualities are normal, functioning individuals. Their difficulty or inability to empathize does not always prevent them from integrating into society and behaving normally because of the obvious rewards (like not being socially ostracized or in prison) for doing this.
If your brother's mental condition cannot be changed, you can instead focus on trying to change his behaviors.
I think the best thing for you family to do is to cut him off. He's using you guys to get things that he wants, mostly money and material possessions. Your family should give him nothing and also appear as though they have nothing to give e.g. hiding finances, valuables, not talking about money. Give nothing and make him believe that there is nothing to take.
If, in the worst case, he is indeed a sociopath--most of them require constant stimulation--and stealing and lying are two ways to achieve this. Hopefully, once you prevent him from stealing from you, he will have to find a less harmful way for him to stimulate himself.
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healing
Strangest



Registered: 02/22/11
Posts: 6,565
Loc: the universe, the milky w...
Last seen: 6 years, 6 months
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Re: i need help figuring out whats wrong with my brother [Re: sukhavati12]
#19300938 - 12/20/13 01:34 AM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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You need to get your brother out of your life completely.
-------------------- Open mind, open heart, open book.
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lessismore
Registered: 02/10/13
Posts: 6,268
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Re: i need help figuring out whats wrong with my brother [Re: healing]
#19301026 - 12/20/13 02:11 AM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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the thing that often makes us not ourselves is: stress,drugs
it is natural to be happy and care about others
could be mental issues too... but most likely just drugs, drugs makes us forget ourselves if overdone just like stress does
makes us careless about ourselves and others so what you are experiencing isnt really your brother likely, unless he has always been that way
it could be that he is self-medicating with drugs due to stress in his life maybe meditation/nature , or help from family would help him
I have seen people turn around 180 degrees with that, many times new person, or like they used to be, before they became careless with themselves/everything
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openmind
curious


Registered: 08/03/07
Posts: 13,866
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Re: i need help figuring out whats wrong with my brother [Re: sukhavati12]
#19301160 - 12/20/13 03:12 AM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
sukhavati12 said:
Quote:
dark hippy said: Honestly thats what i really think it is. But what kind of sociopath needs in depth knowledge about WW2? Like its a scary amount about how much he could tell you about every single ship that was in WW2. Or another weird thing is he could tell you how many black people were in the class of 1954-? at some random abandoned school.
Could be some asperger's or HFA mixed in there. But again, without a psychologist, you can't know.
That's exactly what I was thinking as well.
Darkhippy....how old is he? You say he's a pathological liar and compulsively steals, can you elaborate on that beyond what you described in the first post? I mean pocketing bic lighters, even if common isn't that big of a deal in my opinion (I used to do this with out thinking all the time). The situation with the money he owes for the car, yea he should pay that back, but even that isn't quite something I'd stretch to compulsively stealing. Does he have any other odd behaviors or quirks other than the lying & stealing?
Being able to relate to the aspergers/hfa thing...I will say I think people really misunderstood me and often thought I was a lying-shady-sketchy person when I was younger (and maybe still?). Just because of things like no eye contact or avoiding eye contact, fumbling on my words and the tone of my voice, sometimes fidgety or awkward "nervous-like" body language/movements, generally quiet and socially awkward in general. Getting caught in situations where it was hard for me to explain myself and people automatically jump to conclusions that I was lying....
...And, even though petty, going back to the pocketing bic lighters thing. I've been accused of intentionally stealing lighters. I'm just accidentally pocketing them, but then once accused and put on the spot, throw all my social awkwardness and no eye contact into the mix and people's "lie detectors" go off and to them of course I'm lying....And there's been all sorts of similar situations where people simply don't think I'm telling the truth.
Reading into your post way more than I should, with out knowing anything about you or your brother or the situation beyond what is in this thread, I'm going to go ahead and say this....I think your brother has something going on under the surface that he might be completely oblivious, or if he's aware of these sorts of things he's not ill intentioned. And, I think you (and the family) might have it embedded in your mind that he's a compulsive liar, & steals, so even if he does to a certain extent what you perceive might be exaggerated ....
....just my 2 cents .
-OM
.
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Edited by openmind (12/20/13 03:18 AM)
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openmind
curious


Registered: 08/03/07
Posts: 13,866
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Re: i need help figuring out whats wrong with my brother [Re: openmind]
#19301207 - 12/20/13 03:32 AM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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.....or he really does compulsively steal & lie .
I just figured I'd jump to a bit different of a direction/conclusion than everyone else in the thread seemed to jump to.
-OM
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Chimaira
Seasons in the abyss



Registered: 09/08/13
Posts: 212
Loc: Eastern United States
Last seen: 3 years, 9 months
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Re: i need help figuring out whats wrong with my brother [Re: openmind]
#19301298 - 12/20/13 04:20 AM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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How old is he? Is it possible he is an addict? I was in that world for a long time. 90% of addicts are bad thieves and constantly lie.
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dark hippy
Creeping&Crawling


Registered: 05/05/13
Posts: 71
Loc: Michigan
Last seen: 9 years, 7 months
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Re: i need help figuring out whats wrong with my brother [Re: Set]
#19302346 - 12/20/13 11:07 AM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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My brother now is 20 years old almost 21, which is bad because he can buy alcohol soon. Are childhood wasn't the best. are father past away from leukemia when i was 8 years old, and he was 9 at the time. I Honestly couldn't tell you anything about my childhood from ages 6-9 and i don't even know how my brother dealt with all of that. Very sad times to look back on.. Soon my Mom started dating again and she eventually married him but he never tried to be a father figure at all. He was very verbally abusive to me and my brother and once ended up my brother and step dad fighting over fucking cheese. as far as i remember after my dad passed is once everthing went down hill for him lies, stealing, he would steal anything he could make a buck on. Some very valuable baseball cards, my pokemon ds games, 100$ from my parents wedding, and so forth. this has never stopped either. and i just want him to get help before its to late.
-------------------- "It ain't nothing but more hot shit Another classic CD for y'all to vibe with Whether you're cooling on a corner with your fly bitch Laid back in the shack, play this track I'm representing for the gangsters all across the world"
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dark hippy
Creeping&Crawling


Registered: 05/05/13
Posts: 71
Loc: Michigan
Last seen: 9 years, 7 months
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Re: i need help figuring out whats wrong with my brother [Re: openmind]
#19302436 - 12/20/13 11:27 AM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
openmind said:
Quote:
sukhavati12 said:
Quote:
dark hippy said: Honestly thats what i really think it is. But what kind of sociopath needs in depth knowledge about WW2? Like its a scary amount about how much he could tell you about every single ship that was in WW2. Or another weird thing is he could tell you how many black people were in the class of 1954-? at some random abandoned school.
Could be some asperger's or HFA mixed in there. But again, without a psychologist, you can't know.
That's exactly what I was thinking as well.
Darkhippy....how old is he? You say he's a pathological liar and compulsively steals, can you elaborate on that beyond what you described in the first post? I mean pocketing bic lighters, even if common isn't that big of a deal in my opinion (I used to do this with out thinking all the time). The situation with the money he owes for the car, yea he should pay that back, but even that isn't quite something I'd stretch to compulsively stealing. Does he have any other odd behaviors or quirks other than the lying & stealing?
Being able to relate to the aspergers/hfa thing...I will say I think people really misunderstood me and often thought I was a lying-shady-sketchy person when I was younger (and maybe still?). Just because of things like no eye contact or avoiding eye contact, fumbling on my words and the tone of my voice, sometimes fidgety or awkward "nervous-like" body language/movements, generally quiet and socially awkward in general. Getting caught in situations where it was hard for me to explain myself and people automatically jump to conclusions that I was lying....
...And, even though petty, going back to the pocketing bic lighters thing. I've been accused of intentionally stealing lighters. I'm just accidentally pocketing them, but then once accused and put on the spot, throw all my social awkwardness and no eye contact into the mix and people's "lie detectors" go off and to them of course I'm lying....And there's been all sorts of similar situations where people simply don't think I'm telling the truth.
Reading into your post way more than I should, with out knowing anything about you or your brother or the situation beyond what is in this thread, I'm going to go ahead and say this....I think your brother has something going on under the surface that he might be completely oblivious, or if he's aware of these sorts of things he's not ill intentioned. And, I think you (and the family) might have it embedded in your mind that he's a compulsive liar, & steals, so even if he does to a certain extent what you perceive might be exaggerated ....
....just my 2 cents .
-OM
.
When i said pocketing a bic, ir was just an example about how he would lie about he stole it in till you stripped searched him and found the ligher on him, and even still he would lie about it. He moves his hands rapidly together randomly, when he draws boats or somthing, or eating. We all know he starts lying when he makes these dumb stories up and we can't say anything about it because he will just lie and lie and lie. Once he stole my Dads rifle my grandparents were saving for us till we were older, and they knew he stole it and would not tell us what he did. it took us calling every pawn shop around till one said they had it till he told the truth. And there are many stories like that were we had to go that far because of his lies.
-------------------- "It ain't nothing but more hot shit Another classic CD for y'all to vibe with Whether you're cooling on a corner with your fly bitch Laid back in the shack, play this track I'm representing for the gangsters all across the world"
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openmind
curious


Registered: 08/03/07
Posts: 13,866
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Re: i need help figuring out whats wrong with my brother [Re: dark hippy]
#19304315 - 12/20/13 06:16 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
dark hippy said: When i said pocketing a bic, ir was just an example about how he would lie about he stole it in till you stripped searched him and found the ligher on him, and even still he would lie about it. He moves his hands rapidly together randomly, when he draws boats or somthing, or eating. We all know he starts lying when he makes these dumb stories up and we can't say anything about it because he will just lie and lie and lie. Once he stole my Dads rifle my grandparents were saving for us till we were older, and they knew he stole it and would not tell us what he did. it took us calling every pawn shop around till one said they had it till he told the truth. And there are many stories like that were we had to go that far because of his lies.
I see....Does sound like he has a bit of a problem with lying & stealing.
What do you mean "he moves his hands rapidly together"?....Things like that remind me of "stims" that many on the autism spectrum have. The classic stereotypical one being "hand flapping", something I've never done but many on the spectrum seem to. Or just random repetitive movements with the hands, fidgeting with something, hand twisting, hand rubbing, pulling of fingers, tapping, there's all sorts.
The one person I've known in my life that I'd consider a full on compulsive liar would often just lie about fantastical and exaggerated stories....just off the wall stories that we all knew were bullshit. It was annoying, but I still felt bad for the guy. It was like he was on auto-pilot and couldn't help but let exaggeration & embellished stories fly out of his mouth.
He seemed to mean well, just couldn't snap out of the lying. It was as if he was trying to compensate for something, just trying to make up stories to fit in because his life background wasn't the best and he didn't have much otherwise. From the little I know about him, his background/story sounds very similar to the bit you described in your previous post about you and your brother's childhood/growing up and the loss of your father (he lost his father at a young age as well).
So I dunno....there's obviously something going on under the surface, likely something he came into this world with that was only made worse with growing up through life & the childhood you somewhat described. Some in this thread are saying sociopath, my initial thought was autism spectrum with a slew of other troubles & issues on top of that, but that was just my initial thought . But I'm not a psychologist, even if everyone in this thread was, there's no way to come to conclusions about someone's suspected diagnosis from some words on a screen. And even then, I hate to pigeon hole and slap labels onto people .
What I've been spewing in this thread is just from what I know in regards to those two diagnosis, and from knowing a few people in my life that are very similar to the way you describe your brother.
An overly simplified and stereotypical break down of the two....
Sociopaths have natural social intuition. Often have very good social skills. They often manage to come across as nice, reliable and charming but they don't have a conscience nor moral values. They are capable of doing anything to get what they want and they don't care if they hurt and damage others in the process. A lot of sociapaths are very successful in mainstream society and you will find them in all walks of life. They can easily tell when someone is upset or frightened, but they don't care. Sociopaths can have a natural charm that makes it easy for them to manipulate others. Some may actually get a rush from seeing other people upset.
Autism spectrum/"High functioning autism"....often have rigid opinions about good and bad, justice and injustice and so on. Lack of social skills. Often mean well but their intentions are misunderstood because of awkwardness. Many find it hard to obtain and keep jobs. Have difficulty noticing things like if someone is anxious unless it's really obvious. It's not that they don't care about other people's emotions, but it's more like they're oblivious. Also unlike sociopaths, people on the autism spectrum usually find it easy to empathize with animals. Also have a hard time using social charm and the ability to manipulate others is minimal.
Those on the spectrum have lower Theory of the Mind, which is sometimes referred to as cognitive empathy, while psycho/sociopaths have average or high of this. Those on the spectrum/HFA actually tend to have average or high effective empathy, which is the common use of the word and is the thing that psycho/sociopaths lack. The reason those on the spectrum are sometimes thought to lack empathy is because we have difficulty expressing emotion appropriately.
Sociopath= Lacks empathy (and guilt too)
ASD= Trouble expressing/understanding empathy
Cognitive empathy: sociopaths are masters of this, not so much for those on the spectrum.
Emotional empathy: Sociopath probably don't even know the proper definition of "feelings", when those on the spectrum tend to be very sensitive to such things.
-OM
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