Antisocial versus unsocial
When it comes to the term antisocial, the first thing that comes to mind is someone who distances themselves from others, someone who avoids interaction with people as much as possible. These behaviors are considered “unsocial”, which leads us to believe the two words are synonymous with each other. But true antisocial behavior is a bit more dangerous both to those with it as well as everyone around them.
Let’s start with unsocial behavior. People with social anxiety can fall into this category a lot due to the fears of others not liking them, saying something “stupid”, etc. Being unsocial stems from this condition but what does it mean for those who don’t suffer from social anxiety or anything related to it? What makes them not want to interact with the rest of humanity? A lot of us, regardless of any pre-existing issues would describe ourselves as antisocial, whether jokingly or in complete seriousness, which is usually taken as simply being unsocial. But the truth is that they are two very different things.
Both may be piggybacking on social anxiety or another type of mental/emotional disorder but typically, those who really are antisocial can exhibit much darker behavior than those who are of a more fear-based mindset. Some of these include parasitic lifestyle, promiscuous sexual behavior, early behavioral problems, impulsivity, irresponsibility, failure to accept…
