As your question alludes to the truth, we can tell you that the answer is that the two are one and the same, only a matter of degree. The fact that the psychologists have segregated people into two categories, as having differing maladies or dysfunctions of the psyche because their corresponding behavioral traits and functional deficits or disturbances will be varied, they are falling into the same trap as medicine does all so often, across the board. Many times, because symptoms differ, or in seemingly disparate ways even though a common thread is present, such as conclusive evidence both sets of symptoms involve the same organ system, the medical profession will assign different disease labels to those two seemingly distinct quandaries when, in fact, they may be the same overall illness but simply reflect a differing level of severity or time point in a potential worsening that can eventually result in a progression of the illness over time. This even causes rationalizations that two separate maladies having similarities that seem to merge into one simply means that one is close enough to the set of problems that it can create the other through a worsening, perhaps representing a consequential toll on the body from continued milder insults spiraling into a downward progression that causes more severe dysfunction or even organ failure at extremes.
In the case of the difference between a sociopath and a psychopath, the deficit and the causes are the same. It is a disconnection from the spiritual core, the higher self of the individual residing within the heavenly realm as an extension from the soul and an in-between overseer of the person incarnated in the physical body they inhabit. One of the important roles of the higher self is to provide guidance and inspiration, either independently in its province to watch over and assist the soul journey of the incarnated human, or relaying a message or an action requested by Creator, to benefit the physical human in some way, as it is the intermediary in charge and even having an important say in many matters of life and death significance, including departure of the spirit to end the lifetime. The higher self will weigh in and may, in fact, initiate a request for permission to get the ball rolling, so to speak. When life has served its purpose and severe suffering has developed for whatever reason, through its compassion, the higher self might initiate a request to allow the person to pass on and return to heaven. But while living, the most important function of the higher self is in providing a conscience. It sees everything that happens and for normal human beings will trigger something within the body to get their attention using a somewhat unpleasant stimulus. It will cause a physical stress reaction, turmoil in the gut, tightness in the chest, feelings of apprehension and unease, or even something more severe, often called "a pricking of the conscience," that leaves a person upset until they perhaps right the ship and figure out a way to undo harm they have caused, for example.
Without a conscience, you are seeing in your review of the dilemma posed by such individuals as sociopaths and psychopaths to society, and the harm and considerable challenge they represent to institutions who end up charged with cleaning up the mess created by dysfunctional people, whether healers and helpers like psychologists and psychiatrists, social workers and counselors, or law enforcement personnel, when there are crimes committed by someone without a conscience stepping over boundaries and breaking the law. So we would say that it is a disconnect from the soul, in a broad sense, because being without a conscience is a reflection of a disconnect with the higher self, and that is more serious even than lacking a conscience. The more disconnected you are from the higher self and its influence, the less it can do in the way of inspiration, guidance, healing, and protection, all divine interventions possible when a person is in enough divine alignment to be at least connected to their higher self, even if they lack formal religious convictions. This leaves a significant deficit in wherewithal to be so disconnected as to fall on the spectrum of a diagnosis as a sociopath or a psychopath. The latter is simply a more extreme consequence of having the dysfunction of a sociopath reach a more comprehensive and total level of severity. Such psychopaths are typically diagnosed as such because they so grossly overstep boundaries of acceptable conduct and societal norms as to warrant outside intervention, and this is often an individual causing a major crime. It might not be violent, it might be just severe in its heartlessness and level of destructive consequences, done for selfish reasons, unhindered by being able to connect to the divine level, even indirectly.
A sociopath may do quite shocking and harmful things but not to an extent where it is felt to be almost a physical defect like a piece of the brain is missing. Certainly, there is some kind of incapacity of the psychopath because they are so far gone and unresponsive to all attempts at saving them from themselves. The sociopath may be similarly refractive to productive therapy. This is the problem with psychology, it has high hopes but little power to effect meaningful change for human beliefs and behaviors, because they are rooted deeply in multiple levels of the mind not reachable by the person's conscious awareness. But for the sociopath, there will often be an attempt and, indeed, some improvements can come about with a gifted therapist calling them out for their shortcomings and effectively imparting coping strategies that can be carried out through sheer acts of will by the sociopath, especially if not in too severe a state of dysfunction. We will be discussing the causes as you go through the questions.
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