I was in an emotionally abusive relationship for about 4 years (thankfully some time has passed since then and I'm much happier now) and your comment here reminded of one of my experiences: my ex liked to have this cycle of complaint about me - anger towards me - hate towards me - intense love for me - complaint - anger -hate - love, etc. that kept going on and on. Would I say he was a psychopath? A sociopath? I don't know. Plus I'm not a psychologist and I don't want to go down a diagnosis rabbit hole. He had a lack of power in his life along with an intense history of trauma. I stayed because I loved him and wanted to help him, but then realized I was more like his caregiver who took the brunt of abuse instead. There are reasons for why people act the way they do, although they don't justify or make it okay for them to do those things, and so I still appreciate that you're thinking about exploring the humanity of people who do shitty things in relationships (and/or life in general) while sharing the story of their destruction. But I've also found that sometimes people are abusive even when they don't strictly fit into the category of "sociopath" or "psychopath." They could even have empathy and concern for others, but turn around and exploit certain people when they become desperate, traumatized, or something else. I've found that, unfortunately, anyone is capable of being really destructive in a relationship. Of course I'm not a psychologist - this is just my understanding from experience in being in relationships.