- HubPages»
- Health»
- Mental Health»
- Personality Disorders
Antisocial Personalities - Are they the same as Psychopaths?
Facts about ASPD - Anti-social Personality Disorder
Anti-Social Personality Disorder has been linked to Oppositional Defiant Disorder in childhood which has developed into Conduct Disorder in adolescence. In fact in order for a diagnosis of Antisocial Personality Disorder to be made there must have been symptoms of Conduct Disorder presenting under the age of 15 years. There must have also been at least 3 occurrences of behaviours such as committing arrestable offences, reckless behaviour, aggression leading to fighting and inflicting injury, or irresponsible behaviour since the age of 18. If the sufferer has Schizophrenia or Bipolar Disorder and the behaviours do not happen outside a manic or schizoid episode, a diagnosis of Anti-Social Personality Disorder cannot be made.
If parents suffer with the disorder it increases the likelihood that at least one of the children will develop ODD which could then progress to Anti-Social Personality Disorder. It is markedly worse in early adulthood but almost always improves in middle age.
More males than females have the disorder and up to 30% of patients in the psychiatric sector are sufferers.
Adults with this disorder exhibit traits of irresponsible, remorseless behaviour. They tend to antagonise people deliberately and have no moral compunction when it comes to deceiving, lying and cheating.
What other behaviours do people with this disorder exhibit?
- Relationship problems
- Unemployment
- Depression
- Poor parenting
- Chronic Gambling
- Anxiety which can lead to physical symptoms (Somatization Disorder)
- Criminality with frequent prison sentences
- Homelessness
- Manipulative Behaviour
- Suicidal tendencies
- Inability to manage money or honour debts
Treatment of ASPD
Psychotherapy, including group and family therapy
Medication (normally only used for co-existing conditions such as mood swings, depression & anxiety)
Self-help support groups
Is Anti-Social Personality Disorder the same as Psychopathy?
There are similarities between Conduct Disorder, Anti-Social Personality Disorder and Psychopathy and people with ASPD are often described as Psychopaths or Sociopaths. However, Psychopathy is different from ASPD in that psychopaths tend to have complete lack of genuine empathic feelings and conscience and are more likely to have anomalies in frontal cortex and/or amygdala of the brain.
In the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) there exists criteria for ASPD but no such list of criteria is present therein for Psychopathy. That said, there is a list of diagnostic criteria - the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), produced by Dr Robert D Hare which has remarkable similarities to the DSM-IV one for ASPD.
DSM-V is due to be published in May of this year (2013) and this will see the removal of having to have a conduct disorder before the age of 15 as a requirement for a diagnosis of Anti-Social Personality Disorder. The criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder will then be virtually identical to that of Psychopathy as proposed by Dr Hare. The criteria can be seen here on Wikipedia
- Conduct Disorder - A Precursor to Borderline or Antisocial Personality Disorder?
CD (Conduct Disorder) and ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder) are quite closely associated in classification and developmental terms. Oppositional Defiant Disorder behaviours are assumed to be precursors to a more serious Conduct Disorder; although t - Do You Never Learn From Your Mistakes? – You May H...
A famous person – It could have been Albert Einstein, Rita Mae Brown, Benjamin Franklin or Mark Twain (they have all been cited as contenders) defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Whoever it was th - Is Your Anger Managing You?- Or Are You Managing You...
Being angry isn’t a problem in itself. It is how the anger manifests in you that can be a problem. If for example you simply shout when someone or something angers you and then get on with the rest of your day, that isn’t a problem. - Is your child ODD? Oppositional Defiant Disorder - Could it progress to Conduct Disorder?
ODD or Oppositional Defiant Disorder which is its full title, is a personality disorder which normally becomes evident around the age of 8 years or so. Sometimes it can be later but generally it shows itself before the early teens. - ADD and ADHD|All Ages|Adult and Child
Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder used to be classed as two separate conditions until quite recently. What used to be classified as ADD is now Inattentive ADHD.
© Susan Bailey 2013 All Rights Reserved