Antisocial Personality Disorder – Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

What is Antisocial Personality Disorder?

Antisocial Personality Disorder is also known as the Sociopathic Personality Disorder. It is a severe mental disease. It is a mental health condition in which people tries to exploit or violate the rights of others.

People have the abnormal way of thinking about others in perceiving situations or in other words people have the destructive nature.

Sociopath is a very severe type of Antisocial Personality Disorder. The people suffering from this disease cannot differentiate between right and wrong. They easily lie, behave aggressively, indulge in arguments or violate the rights of others.

The patients with this disease becomes criminal minded. They make Antisocial Personality disorder crimes. They may involve in Alcohol or Drugs. They do not fulfill responsibilities towards their family, society or anyone.

Definition of Antisocial Personality Disorder

Antisocial Personality Disorder is persistent pattern of disrespect for people with indifference towards rights of others followed by irresponsible and rash behavior often accompanied by violation of rights of others, often starts in childhood and continues throughout adulthood.

Characteristics of Antisocial Personality Disorder

The people who suffer from this disease are not able to function properly at a high level and they are unsuccessful both socially and economically. They have no sympathy for others. They badly fail to fulfill their social responsibilities.

Some of the characteristic of an antisocial person are

• Making aggressive decisions

• Disregard for people’s right

• Involvement in conflicts

• Indulgence in Alcohol and Drugs.

Symptoms of Antisocial Personality Disorder

Antisocial personality is a persistent way of thoughts, behaviors and feelings of a person; it differs from the acceptable customs of society.

These people need social isolation due to their odd behavior. They are actually counter-social in their behavior. The symptoms of this condition are diagnosed after the age of 15 years. The symptoms of this disorder vary from person to person but some signs are common in every one.

These symptoms may include

• Failure in confirming Social customs

• Committing crimes

• Rash decision making

• False planning

• Repeated deceitfulness

• Lying to others

• Fooling others

• Wild disregard

• No feeling of guilt on one’s wrong doing

• Aggressive behavior

• Indulging in physical fights

• Irresponsible behavior

• Does not fulfill social and financial obligations

• Lack of acre for others

• Cruel to animals and human beings

• Destructive in nature

• Nervous and disturbed

Causes of Antisocial Personality Disorder

It is difficult to detect the exact cause of Antisocial Personality Disorder. The causes may be genetic or influenced by situations of life.

Sometimes it may be due to the certain events in the childhood like death of parents, close relatives and friends etc.

The children may change to antisocial because of situations like divorce of parents, illness of close one.

All these events may cause some Psychological impacts on the child’s mind that may lose his or her sense.
Psychoanalytic Theories can also be a cause of this disorder. The personality can also be shaped due to the following reasons.

Following 2 reasons can be main for Antisocial Personality Disorders:

1. Life Situations or External Factors

   People grow up in their surroundings and they are directly affected by the relationships they have with the different members of the family, the parenting that children experienced, behavior of neighbors and other people around them.

2. Inherited Tendencies

   There are few aspects of person’s personality that are shaped due to their nature. One may be very shy or have happy outlook owing from their parents. This is the so-called temperament, which is mostly inherited by the parents.

   So, there are many causes of this disorder that widely varies from person to person.

Types of Antisocial Personality Disorder

There are 2 types of Antisocial Personality Disorder

1. Psychopathy Antisocial Personality Disorder
2. Sociopathy

1. Psychopathy Antisocial Personality Disorder
   Psychopathy Antisocial Personality Disorder is a condition that shows lack of concern for others combined with unethical conduct.

Celebrities with Antisocial Personality Disorder

There many celebrities who suffer from this disease including Charles Manson, Jimmy Jones, Adolf Hitler, Pobert Maudsley, Mary Bel and Ted Bundy.

Antisocial Personality Disorder and Serial killers

Serial Killers are mostly the sufferers of this condition. They appear very charming and act normally but they appear very cruel when they are in murderous mood.

Antisocial Personality Disorder in Children

This condition mostly appears in the childhood of an individual. If a child grows in a disturbed environment, he may get emotionally injured in his adulthood. This type of child is different from others. These types of children are cruel and they chase their fellow beings.

They may have the habit of abusing, hitting others, stealing things etc. they do not have any kind feelings for the people around them.

Tests of Antisocial Personality Disorder

There is no specific test for this personality disorder like Blood tests etc.

The medical experts look for the symptoms of this condition, to confirm whether the disease is present or not. The experts have sufficient knowledge about the symptoms of this disease, these symptoms help in identification of this disease.There are some conditions that exists with the Antisocial Personality Disorder like Histrionic Personality Disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, Substance-related Disorder, Somatization Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder.

The history, behavior and the appearance of person helps to detect this disease.

A Psychological examination has to be performed for the diagnosis of this disease.

Medication is normally not helpful for the treatment of this condition. Psychotherapy can help in the treatment of this disease. The diagnostic criteria for this condition are very broad.

Treatment of Antisocial Personality Disorder

Guidelines of Treatment

There no controlled researches that have reported any effective treatment for Antisocial Personality Disorder.

Use of medicines for Antisocial Personality disease is not suggested, as it does not help.

Following are the techniques and treatments that are good for Antisocial Personality Disorder

1. Cognitive Therapy

   This treatment was earlier used to treat the patients with depression. Now it is used for the treatment of Antisocial Personality Disorder also. The main intention of therapy is to make the patient understand that he/she is creating problems for themselves and he himself does not want to see the good sides of others.
   The therapist should insist the patients to regularly attend the counseling and show their involvement in the therapy.
   This therapy works best when done with the professional therapist. The professional therapist can predict the emotions and conditions of the patients.

2. Psychotherapy

   The patients suffering Antisocial Personality Disorder should be treated with the Psychotherapy, in order to understand the nature and results of this disorder.
   In Psychotherapy, the therapist should act as a neutral person. He should not do arguments with the patients, as it can make the situation worst.

   The actual aim of this therapy is to focus on the Patient’s emotions. The therapist selects the topics that are based on real life issues. This helps to motivate the patients in this treatment.

3. Hospitalization

   Hospitalization is the rare requirement for this treatment. There can be a situation in one’s life when he realizes about his condition. The person may then require community support while going through rehabilitation phase.

4. Medications

   Medications are not recommended for this disease. The researches have proved that medications are never found to be affective for this disorder.

Prognosis of Antisocial Personality Disorder

The symptoms of this disease are at their peak in the teenage or in early 20s.with the passage of time, the symptoms improve on their own. In early 40s, the symptoms of this disease mostly disappear.Antisocial Personality Disorder is a very serious disease. The people suffering from this condition are not interested in social activities and indulge in all types of crimes.

These people should take proper care and they should be kept is such an environment where they can come out of this situation.

The society should try to be sympathetic towards such people and should provide them with such conditions in which they can change to a normal and social human being.