Sure-I can try to answer this question.
Sociopaths act in complete and total disregard for other peoples' feelings. They lack empathy. They act selfishly.
Active alcoholics, because they are driven by their need for their drug, act in complete and total disregard for other peoples' feelings.
My exabf-he played games with my head, in order to perpetuate the denial of his problem and to keep me on the leash. See, the partner of an alcoholic is subject to all kinds of insane situations because that's what drinking does-it wreaks havoc on people's lives. Alcoholics live with guilt and shame, so they lie and manipulate...they minimize and rationalize...not because they're bad people, but because they have to feed their addiction and keep the codependent on the hook to continue to take care of them.
I've heard stories of alcoholics driving drunk with their CHILDREN in the car. If this doesn't seem sociopathic to you, what does?
Originally Posted by
olinda1 
"... it is nearly impossible to accurately diagnose mental illness in a practicing alcoholic, would also think that this would be true of an addict of any kind. Think about the things that folks do while they're out there, remarkably sociopathic. "
Really? Can anybody hazard a guess as to why an alcoholic might seem sociopathic? What's the connection? Is narcissism part and parcel of addiction? Aren't there "lovely, kind, wonderful except for the alcoholism "type of alcoholics?__________________