How much of anti social personality disorder is genetic vs. environment?

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   writer268posted 14 years ago

   How much of anti social personality disorder is genetic vs. environment?
   
   consider the individual who's parent may have the disordered personality but the child has little to no contact with that parent but still shows certain traits that are hallmarks of the diagnosis.

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2. 59

   atienzaposted 14 years ago

   I think this could be largely genetic. Most psychopaths appear normal and most often come from normal families. Antisocial personalities are one of the most difficult to treat. You have to bear in mind that they have no remorse or guilt for their actions. It would take a truly extreme and unique environment to "program" an adult or child to perform negative actions and feel nothing of it. That has got to come from a disordered mind.

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3. 53

   Tatjana-Mihaelaposted 14 years ago

   Well, genetics is not so important - more important is environment and influence caregivers had on the child. Child learns through examples, emotional and mental programms that receives from the parents or any other caregiver.
   
   Child that is still bonded with parents who have problem, can suffer because of their negative influence - but with help of love from other people can overcome the problems.
   
   I belive that part of the answer you will find in my Hub: How to Heal Traumas from Childhood http://hubpages.com/hub/eliminate-energy-drains
   where I explained a lot about influence of parents on children.

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4. 61

   Lita P.posted 14 years ago

   No one knows. The latest research with Dr. A. Raine points to chemical imbalance. Head injuries are also thought be be a contributing factor. Heredity is also strongly suggested.

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5. 59

   nora.elizabethposted 14 years ago

   I am a psychology major and I work with indivduals with mental illnesses. I have a client who has anti-social PD.
   
   The thing is, and research shows, that both contribute to the illness. In some cases the indivdual grew up in a household that was very loving and "normal" ( I hate that word...). In other cases there has been research showing that some people who have the illness were abused of some sort during their childhood.
   A child with antisocial is usually diagnoised before hand with ODD or conduct DO. Both of these disorders are "childhood DO's" and if they continue into adulthood they are comorbid with antisocial.
   
   Genetics can play a factor as well because with any mental illness it can be passed down. The greater risk the child will have an illness is if a parent has one as well.
   
   Antisocial PD is very difficult to treat because these indivduals do not have emotions. They are lacking emotions or the ability to feel.

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6. 56

   jbsilverposted 14 years ago

   I think its a bit of both. My nephew never met his granddad. My sister and I have different fathers. But I had the unfortunate opportunity to make his acquaintance. My nephew is like a reincarnation. Couple this with an alcoholic mother with little to no special help and you got a person who is a victim of both genetic and environmental situations. He spent very little time with his mother until he was five years old. At which point they were separated. The separation made no difference. He made contact with her after he turned 35 hoping she had changed. Which surprised me. She hadn't. This is when he finally gave up on her. I think behavior can skip generations like other family traits such as eye and hair color. I've experienced this first hand. The difference between them is my step father got crazy when he drank alcohol my nephew on the other hand did not need a stimulant. But his behavior was/is the same as his grandfathers. Love and help only kept him from turning on us. It seems that its just in him to be the way he is. Our society need to learn to except this fact.

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