Most all cluster b personality disorders contain Narcissism as Mandy mentioned. A basic narc is all about them as the title suggests. They are focused and concentrating on themselves and their wants and desires. All of the damage and wreckage in their wake is simply a biproduct of you being in their world. They are not concerned or interested in you and your "petty" needs. You are an instrument designed to please and satisfy them. They can see that you are suffering and either they figure it is your fault because you did not take care of yourself like they do, or they look at it and say, this babble is annoying and it is cutting into my golf time so, see ya.

It's very simple yet difficult to grasp when you are in the middle of it.

A psychopath/antisocial/sociopath is another creature entirely. They are also narcissistic to the extreme and they defy the laws of the land, are vengeful, cruel, sadistic, and lack anything that resembles guilt, conscience, or remorse.

A narc lacks remorse because it does not fit into their agenda, because it is not all about them. Why would someone have remorse if what you are complaining about does not pertain to them? They would not. It is not so much that they are intentionally trying to not care about you. They just don't, they are not wired to care about others just themselves. So all that they do is a biproduct of their disorder, which of course it is with the psychopath as well. They lack conscience, they are above it all and do as they please and if you stand in their way, watch out. The narc is more likely than not going to just walk away and leave you in a heap because your demands are annoying. A psychopath will say, shut the fuck up bitch and leave me alone now or I'll give you something to cry about and enjoy every minute of giving you your punishment. A narc could not be bothered, they are on to new supply and you can take care of your problems yourself. They may exhibit rage if pushed to the brink to deal with you and your problems, holes in the wall, a shove, a push you down, a quick smack to shut you up, yet they are not all violent. It is more to shut you up and get you out of their face. A psychopath will give you a wallop that you will never forget and once again, enjoy it. They will only apologize if they still need you for something to suck you back in to compliance, otherwise if they are done with you they will just leave you there and smear your name from one end of town to the next, because they hate you now, you are of no use to them and your reputation means NOTHING TO THEM.

After awhile of researching and observation, the distinction become evident, yet they are great manipulators, both narcs and Psycho's so even professionals can get fooled by them and often do. Many a professional has misdiagnoised them. This is why you are often much better off to work with someone who specializes in these disorders, you are more likely to get an accurate diagnoisis of what they are and a better understanding of what you have and are experiencing.

It is easy in the beginning to just assume that your narc is also a psychopath, yet it all boils down to intention. Was their abuse a result of a lack of interest in you and how their behaviors affected you or were they trying to take you down and as you begin to recover you will see the difference. In the beginning it appears as though they are all trying to take you down, yet narcs just don't care if you go down or not they are just late for a date with new supply.

God bless,
Goldie

There's a HUGE different between meaning to do someone harm - as in deliberately thinking about how to hurt someone - and being too selfish to think about the affects of your own actions on others.

My ex is a narcissist. Selfish, self-centered, careless, thoughtless, and short-sighted. He did what he wanted when he wanted to do it and couldn't have given a crap what ramifications those wants had on me. He wasn't a psychopath. If he was, he would've considered how his choices or actions would've impacted me and done those things deliberately BECAUSE they would've hurt me, whether he really wanted to do them or not. In addition, he never stalked me, harrassed me, beat me, raped me, stole from me, terrorized me, threatened me, brutalized me, humiliated me, degraded me, or otherwise tried to ruin me. He was passive aggressive, and believe me, it wasn't a good relationship, but nothing he did was malicious, vindictive, or sick - he was simply a five-year-old in a forty-year-old's body.

All psychopaths are narcissists, but not all narcissists are psychopaths. They are indeed different enough that NPD is being retained as its own disorder.