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Antisocial Personality Disorder
Antisocial personality disorder (AsPD) prototypic description:
Antisocials displayed symptoms of Conduct Disorder from early childhood, and their manipulative and irresponsible behaviour continued into adulthood. They lack empathy and use others for their own gain. Because they can’t tolerate boredom, they are reckless, impulsive thrill-seekers and disregard their safety and others'. AsPD is over-diagnosed in prisons and detention centres.
Features of AsPD
- Triggering Event(s): Social standards and rules
- Behavioral Style: Impulsive, irritable, aggressive; irresponsible and struggles to keep commitments; relies on themselves, uses cunning and force; risk-taking and thrill-seeking
- Interpersonal Style: Deceitful; irritable, antagonistic and aggressive; disregards their and other’s safety; distrustful; lacks empathy; competitive
- Cognitive Style: Impulsive; realistic; very aware of social cues; prone to executive dysfunction
- Affective Style: Superficially expresses emotions; avoids emotions that will make them vulnerable; rarely feels guilt, shame or remorse; unable to tolerate boredom, depression, & frustration and needs stimulation
- Temperament: Misbehaving as children, and aggressive and impulsive as adults
- Attachment Style: Fearful-dismissing
- Parental Injunction: “The end justifies the means”
- Self-View: Cunning & entitled
- World-View: Life is dangerous and rules get in the way of their needs. They won’t be controlled or degraded
- Maladaptive Schemas: Mistrust/abuse; entitlement; insufficient self-control; defectiveness; emotional deprivation; abandonment; social isolation
- Optimal Diagnostic Criterion: Aggressive, impulsive, irresponsible behavior.
- Defining Strategy & Belief: Predatory; other people are there to be used for their own gain.
AsPD is associated with psychopathy and sociopathy. It's important to recognise that these are frequently used as slurs against people with AsPD (though antisocials can reclaim them), and that as diagnostic categories, they don't actually exist. "With psychopathic features" is a specifier for AsPD in the DSM's alternative PD model, and is characterised by not feeling fear or anxiety, and a "bold interpersonal style".
Subtypes: Covetous; Malevolent; Nomadic; Reputation-defending; Risk-taking (Millon)
Often comorbid with: anxiety, substance abuse, dysphoria/discomfort & somatic symptom disorder, depression, gambling & other impulse control disorders, ADHD, BPD, HPD, NPD
Often confused with: PPD, BPD, HPD (Millon), substance abuse, schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, NPD
| Style | Disorder |
|---|---|
| Prefers not to be tied down, and lives well by their talents and wits. | Unable to commit to responsibilities. |
| Remains within the law, but have their own moral compass and values that aren't influenced by social norms. | Disregards both social norms and the law, which often results in illegal behaviour. |
| Got into trouble a lot as children but grew out of it. | Irritable and aggressive, often get into physical fights. |
| Can be responsible and meet financial obligations. | Irresponsible and fail to meet financial obligations. |
| Able to commit and make plans, but tend to feel a lot of wanderlust. | Struggle to plan ahead and think about the consequences of their actions, and are impulsive. |
| Charismatic, reasonably truthful but don't mind occasional white lies. | Manipulative and compulsive liars. |
| Got into trouble a lot as children but grew out of it. | Irritable and aggressive, often get into physical fights. |
| Courageous, bold, tough; will stand up to people and defend themselves. | Reckless regarding their own and others’ safety. |
| Tend not to worry too much about others, expect others to be responsible for themselves. | Irresponsible in regards to both themselves and others. |
| Can commit to exclusive relationships. | Difficulty with infidelity. |
| Lives life in the present, rarely feels guilty. | Rarely feels guilt or remorse, uses others for their own gain. |