What Is Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD)?
- a personality disorder/psychological mental illness that involves disregard for the rights or others, as well as impulsive, irresponsible
and aggressive behaviour.
Incidence in the population
- 3% in males and 1% in females. It is seen in 3% to 30% of psychiatric outpatients.
- even higher in prisons (80-85%).
- higher among patients in alcohol or other drug abuse treatment programs than in the general population.
- For this diagnose to be given, an individual must be at least 18 years or age and have at least a few symptoms of conduct disorder.
Various forms of the disorder
- Risk factors for Antisocial Personality Disorder
- Substance abuse
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHA)
- Reading disorder
Causes
- result of a combination of biologic or genetic and environmental factors.
- there is no clear evidence of biological risk factors
- The lack of response may cause antisocial individuals to be insensitive to others feelings, rights, and suffrage.
- Some individuals may have particular genetic backgrounds.
- sexual, physical, or emotional abuse, withdrawal or neglect, interaction with peers who are antisocial, and alcoholic or antisocial parents.
Symptoms
- lack of obeying laws; evident by recurrence of crimes,
- regular fraudulence in relationships;
- lying or scamming others, and failure to think or plan ahead;
- impulsivity.
- Antisocial individuals demonstrate an irritable, angry, aggressive behaviour.
Prognosis
- -Not very good because of two contributing factors:
- Limited amount of insight into the systems
- Negative consequences are often blamed on society.
- Treatment options are limited.
- Some research has found long term insight oriented therapy to be effective, but getting the individual to commit to this treatment is a major obstacle.
- Impact on the sufferer and their family and/or those close to them
- Sufferers do not express a particular desire to change themselves or suppress their impulses.
- Many do not even know they are afflicted.
- It is a cruel personality disorder which takes away nearly all the empathy from the victim and replaces it with an empty hole of hatred and arrogance.
- A considerate and sympathetic behaviour towards the victims by family and friends is required.
Community resources
- Personality Disorder Resource Centre on Queen Street West
- the 211 Toronto Community Connection under Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario and the Doctor’s Guide Congress Resource Centre (CRC).
- CAMH’s (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health) main switchboard number is (416) 535-8501. For a mental health or addiction concern, one can call (416) 595-6111 (within Toronto) or 1-800-463-6273 (toll free).
Famous victims
- Ted Bundy, brutal serial killer and law student, who portrayed the selection of the population with the antisocial personality disorder as a clan of heartless monsters.
- Charles Manson is a convicted serial killer who has become an icon of evil.
- He fits many of the criteria of antisocial personality disorder, including disregard for and violation of others’ rights, impulsivity, disregard for truth, and lack of remorse.
Other Relevant Information
- No lab test has been found to be diagnostic of this disorder.
- This disorder is more common among first-degree biological relatives of those with the disorder than in the general population.
- Individuals with this disorder have an increased risk of dying prematurely by violent means (e.g., suicide, accidents, and homicide).
