ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER EXPLAINED

I have come to observe that people loosely use “antisocial personality disorder” unto people who do not socialise with people and prefers to stay alone. Today’s discussion will be on correcting this erroneous assumption or labelling.

Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) is a personality disorder characterised by being indifferent or lacking remorse to people whom one has stolen from, hurt or mistreated and failure to comply with societal norms and expectations. Additionally an individual having ASPD may have impulsive reckless behaviour, lie repeatedly and have absolute disregard for the safety of other people. One other distinct characteristic is of manipulating others as well as blaming them for own problems.

Serial killers and hard-core criminals in most cases fit the criteria for this disorder. According to Shives (2012: 376), “80% to 90 % of all crime is committed by individuals with ASPD.”

ASPD occurs in clients between 18 and 40 which explains why research findings has shown that cessation of criminal activities tends to occur at 40 years. It may come earlier as conduct disorder (CD) though not all individuals with CD progress to ASPD at around 18 years. The disorder is more prevalent in men than women with a ratio of 3:1.

The exact cause of ASPD is unknown and like most of the mental disorders, a combination of genetics, biological and environmental factors could potentiate development of this personality disorder. Adverse childhood experiences including child neglect have been found to also play a role in the development of the disorder. The disorder places increased vulnerability for other mental disorders.

Managing this disorder is a challenge as usually the person having it is not even aware they are having a problem. Behaviour modification of specific problems is one approach that is used most of the time and can be combined with psychotherapy. It is of paramount importance that caregivers be assisted on how to avoid manipulation as well as being empowered on setting boundaries.