Antisocial Personality Disorder
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| Antisocial Personality Disorder |
Antisocial personality disorder is also called as sociopathy. It is a Type of mental disorder in which a person feels no regard that what is right and what is wrong and also ignores the rights and hurt the feelings of others. This disorder is included in Cluster "B" of Personality disorder that also include Histrionic Personality Disorder. People affected with this order tend to annoy, manipulate or treat others harshly or with callous indifference. They also show no guilt for their type of behavior. People with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) can be amusing and charming but they often lie and try to exploit others and become uncaring.
People
with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) have tendency to violate the law
and to involve in criminal behaviors. They also lie and behave aggressively or
impulsively. They also have problems with drug and alcohol use. So such people can't
fulfill responsibilities related to family, work or educational institute.
Symptoms of Antisocial Personality Disorder
Most important symptoms in person
affected with antisocial personality disorder are:
- Disregard for what is socially right and wrong.
- Lie or deceit to exploit others
- Abuse drugs or alcohol
- Adult person with this disorder show symptom of conduct disorder like Aggression toward people and animals, destruction of property, deceitfulness, theft and serious violation of rules.
- Such people are callous, having no emotions, cynical and disrespectful of others.
- They use charm or fun to manipulate others for personal gain or personal pleasure
- They behave arrogantly and have a sense of superiority and being extremely opinionated
- Often violate the rights of others through intimidation and dishonesty
- Show Impulsiveness and often failed to plan ahead
- They are prone to Hostility, irritability, anxiety, aggression or violence.
- Lacks empathy for others and have no feelings of shame or remorse about harming others
- Such people takes unnecessary risk and have dangerous behavior with no regard for the safety of themselves or others
- They don’t consider the negative consequences of their behavior.
- They are highly irresponsible people and repeatedly failed to fulfill work or financial obligations.
What is the nature of Antisocial Personality Disorder?
Antisocial personality disorder is considered a lifelong condition. But in some persons, certain symptoms such as destructive and criminal behavior may decrease over time. But still it’s not clear that whether this decrease is a result of aging or an increased awareness of the consequences of antisocial behavior.
Risk factors to develop Antisocial Personality Disorder
Antisocial
personality disorder is more common in men than women. Genetics, biological
factors and growing up in a traumatic or abusive environment can play a role to
develop such disorder. Brain defects and injuries during developmental years may
also predispose a person to ASPD.
As
people with ASPD often break the law, a lot of prisoners can be seen to have antisocial
personality disorder. Up to 47% of male convicts and 21% of female convicts are
suffering from this disorder. Conduct disorder is very much similar to ASPD but
is diagnosed in young people who repeatedly violate social customs and the
rights of others. Children and adolescents with conduct disorder are more prone
to develop antisocial personality disorder.
What are Causes of Developing Antisocial Personality Disorder?
Exact cause of antisocial
personality disorder is not known, but genetics may play an important role to
developing antisocial personality disorder. Life situations can trigger its
development.
Complications associated with Antisocial Personality Disorder
Complications, consequences and
problems related with antisocial personality disorder may include,
- Abusing the spouse and child neglect.
- Excessive use of alcohol and other narcotics.
- Long time in jail or in prison
- Homicidal or suicidal behaviors
- Higher risk of developing mental health disorders such as depression or anxiety
- Low socioeconomic status or homelessness
- Premature death, because of excessive violence.
How to Diagnose Antisocial Personality Disorder
We can’t diagnose this disorder until age of 18 year but individual that show the symptoms of conduct disorder before age 15 are more prone to develop ASPD. Symptoms are usually more manifested during a person’s late teenage years and in their 20s, but may improve on their own over time.
Treatment options for Antisocial Personality Disorder
Often
behavioral and Psychotherapy are helpful to minimize the severity but he disorder
is hard to treat as individuals with ASPD rarely seek help on their own,
because they think they don’t need it.
Psychiatric
sometimes use medicine like mood stabilizers and atypical antipsychotics to
treat symptoms like impulsive aggression but still FDA has not approved any
drug specifically for antisocial personality disorder.
How to prevent Antisocial Personality Disorder
It
is hard and probably impossible to prevent antisocial personality disorder from
developing in those who are at risk as his disorder has its roots in childhood.
But parents, teachers and pediatricians may be able to spot early warning
signs. It may help to try to identify those most at risk, like those children
who show signs of conduct disorder, and then offer early intervention.
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