Antisocial Personality Disorder - Research Paper Example

Antisocial Personality Disorder al Affiliation) Introduction Antisocial Personality Disorder is a human condition that disregards the violation of other people beginning in childhood and set to continue until one becomes above 18 years of age. The condition is characterized through manipulation and the treatment of the condition has to start when a person becomes an adult and when he experiences conduct disorder before attaining 15 years” (McCallum, 2001). Its diagnosis begin when the victim is insisting and distressing. APD should not undergo diagnosis if the symptoms happen during the bipolar disorder or even when it is attributed to medical condition. A person suffering from APD develops to be impulsive. Some of the elements of APD include antagonism. The APD experiences the effect if a person is more than 18 years, if the traits occur in home environment and surrounding and if their characteristics affect their, thus rendering them antagonistic. People with such a disorder tends to abuse alcohol, are criminal behavior, and unemployment. Normally, the victims rise to a higher rank in the society through deceit (McCallum, 2001). The diagnosis of this disorder has a confined validity to treatment, institutional adjustment, and the behavioral pattern. People suffering from this disorder do not see the abnormality personality; therefore, they do not see the need to change. Normally, the behavior tends to persist into their later ages. Unluckily, the disorder can evolve and persist if the behavior is not controlled. Symptoms Antisocial personality disorder is treated when the antisocial behavior of person has happened since the age of fifteen and entails a majority of symptoms such as failing to conform to social norms according to the lawful behaviors as shown by repeated act that calls for arrest. Another symptom is deceitfulness as shown by an endless lying, using aliases, and conning other people for personal pleasure and profit. Another system is impulsivity of failing to plan. Additionally, an antisocial personality disorder is seen through aggressiveness and irritability as shown by repeated assaults and physical fights. In addition, reckless disregard for others or self-safety is one of the symptoms (McCallum, 2001). Also due to consistent irresponsibility as shown is repeated failure of sustaining a consistent behavior of work to honoring financial obligations. Consequently, deficiency in remorse is rational and not different and mistreated from another person. Therefore, in summary symptoms of antisocial personality disorders include failure to conform and abide to social norm, deceitfulness, impulsivity, irritability, and aggressiveness. Other symptoms include reckless disregard, consistent irresponsibility, and lack of remorse. An evidence of disorder in a person as a child need to undergo diagnosis by a professional. Since personality, disorders describe enduring patterns and long-standing, they are normally diagnosed in adult life. It is rare for them to undergo diagnosis during adolescence or childhood period since a child is always under maturation, personality changes, and constant development. According to DSM 5, the disorder can never be diagnosed in individuals below the age of 18. Therefore, APD acts on the inner behavior of a pattern and is against the normal culture of an individual. The behavioral pattern is conveyed in interpersonal function and their implications. Etiology Studies today have not come up with a concrete cause of antisocial personality disorder. There are various theories, about the likely etiology if antisocial personality disorder. Most experts subscribe to bio psychosocial model of etiology (McCallum, 2001). The causes are likely due factors connected to genetics, biological, social factors, and psychological factors. Social factors relates to how an individual interacts during the early development of their childhood with friends and families. Psychological factors characterize the personality and temperament of a person. The psychological factors were moulded by their environment and learned the knowledge in handling the stress. Therefore, no defined factor is responsible for the disorder. Assuming a person has this disorder, studies shows that there is a rising risk for the disorder transfer to their offspring. Prevalence Just like other personality disorder, this disorder decreases with age, with majority of people experiencing extreme cause by the time they hit 40 or even 50 years. The antisocial disorder personality is common among the males. APD is a long-term behavioral pattern among people who are over 18 years of age. The diagnosis of the disorder is rare in children since they still undergo the changes in their personality. The therefore, is commonly found in male with a prevalence rare of 0.2 per cent & 3.3 per cent. Diagnosis Antisocial personality disorders are diagnosed by health professionals like the psychiatrists and psychologists. Family physicians and practitioners are normally not well equipped to come with this diagnosis (McCallum, 2001). Despite consulting the physicians about the problem, patients need to consult the mental health professionals for treatment and diagnosis. There is no single genetic, laboratory, or blood test used in diagnosing the disorder. Majority of people with this problem do not go for treatment until the disorder begins to interfere with their day-to-day life. This normally happens when the coping resources of a person are stretched to handle stress and other events of life. Its diagnosis is conducted by mental health experts comparing a person’s life history and the symptoms if they surely meet the criteria for the disorder. Treatment Options Treatment of Antisocial Personality Disorders entails a long-term psychotherapy with therapist having an experience to treat such personality disorders. Medications may be prescribed to assist with special symptoms. Therefore, the treatment methods for personality antisocial disorders include psychotherapy, hospitalization, medication, and self-help strategies. In most personality disorders, individuals with this problem rarely look for treatment, without prescription from the court or other significant avenues. Normally, people get a go ahead from the courts. This can never be confused with activities related to crime. This is normally confusing with criminal activity, adult antisocial behavior, and activities that do not provide its justification. Since most individuals suffering from the disorder will be required to this therapy, normally in a jail setting, motivation of the patient may be hard to find. In hospitalization method, an individual is seen as a criminal and has history of colliding with the law. There are various personal insights from the disorder. The most common one is confinement of freedom. Here, the health institutions segregate the victim to track their progress. Here the hospital tends to utilize strict mechanisms to position the clients on economies based on the progress of their treatment. For any treatment, the feelings and connecting focus is termed appropriate. Medication method is only used to treat acute, clear, and serious concurrent diagnoses. There is no study that has suggests a proper medication for antisocial personality disorder. Self-help strategy method involves patients tailoring themselves to the problem. Individuals with such a problem feel comfortable to discuss their behavior and feelings before their peers. Usually a group setting is beneficial and helpful to people having this disorder (McCallum, 2001). In summary, psychotherapy is regarded as the treatment of choice for such a problem. Medication is only there to stabilize the mood swings and concurrent diagnoses of acute Axis I. However, no study supports medication treatment for this disorder. Therefore, Antisocial Personality Disorder is a human condition that disregards the violation of other people beginning in childhood and set to continue until one becomes an adult. “The condition exhibits manipulation and the diagnosis of this condition has to begin when a person is 18 years and when he experiences conduct disorder before attaining 15 years” (McCallum, 2001). The diagnosis of APD when the behavior of the victim becomes insisting and distressing. Reference McCallum, D. (2001). Personality and dangerousness genealogies of antisocial personality disorder. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Read More