A (former) friend of mine shows lots of symptoms of a psychopathic disorder.Years later after we both met the last time, I'm still not sure whether he is/was aware of this disorder or not.So my question:Is a person with potentially psychopathic behaviour aware of why he behaves like he does or not?Plus: If he is aware, do such persons usually suffer from that knowledge/disorder or like it?
Is a person with a psychopathic disorder aware of it?
cognitive psychology;behaviorism
It is important for us not to mix up the two words psychopathy and psychosis...The term psychosis has its roots in the ancient Greek words for an aberration or abnormality (osis) of the mind or soul (psyche). Thus, the psychotic mind is literally a mind that has stopped functioning normally. A psychotic person has  lost the capacity to think and behave rationally, and this usually results in greatly impaired contact with reality. The most typical manifestations of psychosis are bizarre and false beliefs (delusions), and unusual or false perceptions (hallucinations?).Certain mental illnesses are commonly associated with psychotic states, especially schizophrenia, and less frequently, bipolar disorder. Their brains are malfunctioning in such a way that they have lost the capacity to correctly judge things in their environment and to relate to others in a coherent, rational fashion. On the other hand, the term psychopathy was first used in the early 19th century to describe a pathology of personality characterized by an extreme lack of empathy that leads to guiltless and remorseless use and abuse of others. Shallow emotions, a chilling lack of fear, extreme manipulativeness, frequent and seemingly nonsensical lying, and behavioral irresponsibility are common, as is the tendency to display superficial charm.But, although psychopaths have a world view greatly aberrant compared to most, they are neither out of contact with reality nor incapable of rational thought. In fact, their thinking is often distinctly rational and goal-oriented.With that said I'm going to go ahead and assume that you were of course referring to psychopathy in your question, and tell you that virtually all psychopaths know early on in life that they're different from other people. Perhaps not to the extend of knowing about their disorder, but they are in touch with reality and can definitely be able to notice certain differences between themselves and other people such as differences in emotion.