How do you differentiate autism, sociopathy, schizoid etc.

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I've thought I might have Asperger's, be a schizoid, a sociopath or narcissist, but every time, I find myself doing things that contradict them. I'm not worried, I'm just curious of what I am, or if I'm really different at all.

I feel that I am. I'm more apathetic than others, I laugh less, but not to the point where I rarely laugh.

I was very social when I was more little, up until 4th grade, when I was put into home school cause of anxiety.

I had lots of friends, talked a lot, lots of people knew me. I'm told I'm charamasitc a lot, I don't think I try to be though.

I've never had trouble with social cues. I know if what I say will be seen as wrong or weird.

I'm bored a lot, and I love feeling a thrill. I'm home most of the time, I don't know why. But when I go out, I like socializing and having fun.

I'm quiet tho. I know what to say, but I'm just not motivated enough to say it.

I've had 2 depressive episodes, have OCD, and ADHD inattentive type. I've thought about psychopathy, but I don't think they would have all this.

I've always had less empathy than others, and haven't and still don't think about the feelings of others naturally. I've always faked empathy, ever since I was a little kid. It was what I saw everyone do, and it was what I knew.

I had 2 cases of inappropriate behavior as a kid that I won't mention, since I read the rules and don't think I could post it. I knew it might be wrong I think, but I don't think I cared.

I would say I'm very manipulative. I never felt it was wrong. Ever since I was a kid, I've looked for ways to manipulate people. I would test out different methods. I would say I was more aware of how people reacted and thought. I always felt others weren't.

I suck at 1 on 1 conversations. I do way better in groups for some reason. I think it'd because I need to train myself to know how to continue a conversation. I know people love to talk about themselves, but I just don't really care...I like it when they ask about myself though. I do like socializing though.

I've also suspected myself of being schizoid, but I took a test and it said I wasn't. I know it isn't a diagnosis tool, but tests aren't completely worthless. I also have much more sex drive than a schizoid.

But basically

Asperger's: I think I'm more naturally social and aware of people's body language. I've knew about body language before actually reading out it actually. I really get into a subject a lot, but it lasts for like a week and then I become bored and drop it completely.

Sociopath: I've had anxiety, and still have some anxiety. I sometimes have this feeling during the day or night, which I would describe as mildly excited.

Psychopath: I've been depressed(organic, not environmental) and have had anxiety.

Schizoid: I like socializing for fun, but don't really care about the people. I would rather go out than stay home.

I wanted to ask this since maybe some of you can give me more insight and knowledge on this.

This is an Autism/Asperger's forum after all, and anyone would assume people here know more about the topic.

You seem to be quite self analytical.

I would say that I am, but that also confuses me, because I tend to be skeptical about a lot of things. I don't usually say I feel 100% something.

I think, "do I? What do I really feel? Do I even feel something? Is what I feel actually what I think it is? How do I know what empathy or remorse feels?" Stuff like that.

They are all different in their causes and behaviors Autism is nothing like Psychopathy or Sociopathy they only look like each other, Autism also is either Extremely Extroverted or Introverted. Psychopaths are made by their choices. Sociopaths are made by lack of a parent. Schizophrenia is made by a mutation in their maternal genes, that leads to their more or less brain connections the exact opposite of autism which is overgrowth caused by mutation of paternal genes. I realize you ignorant on the subject but every disorder or disease is different that is why they just don't call every disease cancer and every mental disorder mental retardation because they are different.

What you wrote doesn't really sound like Asperger's. I can't say if you have schizoid or are a sociopath because I'm not very knowledgeable about those conditions.

being manipulative and not caring whether something is right or wrong fit sociopathy.

Regarding sociopathy and anxiety - there are actually two different kinds of sociopathy. The stereotypical low-anxiety type, and then a newly-discovered type that has normal to high anxiety levels.

http://tinyurl.com/zx7g9xb

The 'anxious psychopathy' group have the same lack of emotional empathy, manipulativeness and callousness as the standard psychopaths, but they have more anxiety, less neurological markers of psychopathy, higher borderline personality traits and higher rates of childhood trauma. For this reason this group is often called 'secondary psychopathy', because the theories are that anxious psychopathy is caused by the environment while fearless psychopathy is genetic. But this hasn't been studied all that much yet, so we don't really know if that's true. (We know both genetics and trauma are linked to psychopathic traits, but not whether they line up with different subtypes.)

Neither kind has much overlap with autism, though of course people can have both psychopathy and autism purely by chance. It's important to note that the 'lack of empathy' that's central to psychopathy is emotional, not cognitive. Essentially emotional empathy means having an emotional reaction more appropriate to someone else's perceived situation than to your own - for example, feeling sad because Bob's mother died, even though you didn't know Bob's mother and won't miss her, because you assume Bob must be sad. It's important to keep in mind perception here - autistic people tend to miss social cues, so their perception of how others are feeling is less accurate, but a non-psychopathic autistic person will typically feel the same amount of empathy for what they think other people are feeling. In contrast, although psychopaths often have some mild difficulty reading emotions (especially fear and sadness), a core feature of psychopathy is not feeling empathy for what they know others are feeling.

An illustration of the difference - most men wince when they see another man get a groin injury, because they've had injuries in that area and know exactly how much it hurts and so they can empathize with the guy. Women tend to have much less reaction, or maybe even find it funny, because although we've been told how much it hurts, we can't really imagine it because we don't have that body part. In contrast, psychopathic men tend not to wince when other guys get a groin injury, despite having had injuries to that area themselves and knowing how much it hurts firsthand, because someone else's pain just doesn't cause that instinctive reaction in them.

Now tell me we're your parents there when you we're young if not your a sociopath if so you a psychopath discessions make psychopaths and parents make sociopaths.

My parents were always there. Well, my dad worked a lot and came back like at 7-8PM.

Even so, I never really developed a close relationship to my parents. I never told them secrets or came to them when I had troubles. I never felt the need to be close to them.

I stopped being affectionate to them when I was like 12. Even then, I never felt the need to. My brother is 16 and he's still affectionate.

I also found out my "dad" wasn't my biological dad by accident, and I didn't get over it for days, literally days. Afterwards I felt kinda awkward.

I didn't know if should still love him since he's not my real dad, but I wasn't angry, even tho I thought I should be. I don't know if it affected me, since I don't really think about it. It doesn't bother me anymore.