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In a world full of fears, perhaps the worst one a human being
should have is that to be afraid of his fellow man. The human that
should be most feared is the one that has Anti-Social Personality
Disorder or in laymen’s terms the psychopath.
The psychopath is
probably the most deviant mind that exists and treatment is not very
successful because there is not a cure or drug to control it. The
solution in my mind to control the problem of sociopaths is to let them
live in colonies with each other. Through my research I will develop an
understanding of this personality disorder and convince you the reader
that my solution might be a viable solution.
The sociopath is a
combination of other mental illnesses that are incurred in childhood as
a result of heredity, trauma and the lack of emotional development. The
lack of moral or emotional development which gives a sociopath a lack
of understanding for other people’s feelings which enables them to be
deceitful without feeling bad about whatever they do.
The under
developed emotional system as explained in the video “The World of
Personality Disorders volume 5” says the sociopath is “emotionally
retarded” . The sociopathic behavior problems that start as a child
have links to heredity, a family with a pre-disposition to perform
crimes, alcoholic parents that do crimes, irresponsible behavior that
persists and parents that do not discipline.
The child that will
eventually be a sociopath exhibits certain feeling inside that they are
inadequate, shamed and because of that they are teased and made fun of.
The child characteristics of a future sociopath consist of being
incapable of following the rules. The youngster will skip school,
bully, steal, torment animals, run away from home and the child is
likely to develop Attention Deficit \Hyperactivity Disorder or AD|HD.
At an earlier age than their peer group the child will smoke drink, do
drugs, and become sexually active. The diagnoses of Anti-Social
Personality Disorder is not used for people under the age of 18. The
Psychopath is defined in the dictionary as a person suffering from,
especially a severe mental disorder with aggressive antisocial behavior
which is a nice way of saying a really bad and mean person.
There are
many characteristics of a sociopath and each sociopath has their own
special traits. A sociopath gets great gratification in the act of
hurting someone for absolutely no reason. The behavior of a sociopath
is so close to normal it is extremely hard to diagnose. A sociopath is
a person that acts against society and their sole purpose it seems is
to act against the laws of the given land their end. The sociopath will
in most cases become violent and abuse drugs and alcohol to facilitate
the violent behavior. The violence in many cases is the result of
sub-concious decisions that might lead to murdering or assaulting
someone for no reason.
When a sociopath is attacking someone they will
inflict more pain if the victim fights back. The lack of moral
development lets the person feel no guilt or pain for what they did and
quite possibly feel great about their actions. A sociopath has little
self regard for themselves and pays little attention to their own
personal safety when picking fights. Quite often they will be outsized
and get hurt.
Some sociopaths are non-violent and stay out of prison by
doing small crimes like swindling and insurance fraud. It is possible
that a sociopath will come from a normal home but their are more that
do not. A sociopath has the opposite morals of society and by doing
things like beating up people that are stronger than them they feel
like they did something positive.
A psychopath is very reactive and
will blow their cool because of little things and no doubt assault the
person they are reacting to. There is a possibility that saratonin a
chemical that is linked to behavior has something to do with the
disorder but is not the major cause. The type 2 male sociopath drinks
heavily no matter what, has a history of frequent fights and arrests,
they are impulsive risk takers, curious, excitable, quick tempered,
optimistic and independent.
Characteristic List
- be glib or
superficial
- have a grandiose self image
- be deceitful or
manipulative
- lack of remorse
- lack of empathy
- be impulsive
- be
irresponsible
- be easily angered or frustrated
- have serious problems
as a child or teenager
- shows callous unconcern from other’s feelings
- disregard social norms or the rights of other people
- be unable to
maintain enduring relationships
- be incapable of experiencing guilt
- blame others or rationalize antisocial behavior
- be constantly
irritable
The antisocial tends to have short lasting relationships if
they are capable of having a relationship. The psychopath is incapable
of having long lasting, close, warm and responsible relationships with
people. The adult will habitually lie and cannot hold a job for long.
The sociopath can seem charming in superficial social interactions but
repeatedly hurt, anger, exploit, cheat, rob, harass or injure them. The
actions a psychopath no matter what laws they break, whoever they hurt,
whatever trouble they have to deal with they do not feel bad. When a
sociopath is punished they have no feeling of regret because no matter
how cruel or selfish the behavior is they feel it is justified.
People
like us give the sociopath little sympathy because they hurt people so
bad but their illness is recognized as somewhat of an explanation of
why they do it. The idea of the disorder is no excuse for their
behavior that results from it. The sociopath is very intelligent and
knows how to manipulate people into thinking they are normal and that
is when they work their magic. Beneath the mask of sanity a sociopath
is full of tension, hostility, irritability, rage, emptiness and
sadness at the core of the sociopathic personality.
When they hurt a
person a sociopath might think he had it coming or I’m watching out for
number 1. Those sociopaths with children neglect them and do not keep
them safe. As a spouse the sociopath can be glib, superficial,
manipulative, dishonest, abusive and unfaithful. The sociopath tends to
borrow, squander and not repay the money they owe.
Many sociopaths
never settle down for any period of time, they will travel without aim
looking for jobs or whatever they need and get it by doing anything. A
sociopath may look tough and resilient but is very fragile and can
erupt very easily.
The diagnoses of a sociopath or psychopath is very
difficult and has to meet several criteria in order to get that
diagnoses. Diagnoses as explained in Caring for the Mind is based on “
a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of
others, occurring since the age of fifteen, as indicated by at least
three of the following,
1. Failure to conform to the social norms for
lawful behavior, as indicated by repeatedly performing illegal acts
that are grounds for arrest
2. Deceitfulness, as indicated by
repeatedly lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit
or pleasure
3. Impulsivity failure to plan ahead
4. Irritability and
aggressive , as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults
5.
Reckless disregard for safety of self or others
6. Consistent
irresponsibility as indicated by failure to keep a job or honor
financial obligations
7. Lack of remorse, as indicated by indifference
or rationalizations for having hurt , mistreated or stolen from others
8. must be older than 18 to be diagnosed with it
9. must be evidence of a
conduct disorder before the age of 15
10. antisocial behavior doesn’t
occur only during the course of schizophrenia or manic episodes of
bipolar illness.
Anti-Social Personality Disorder is found in as much as
75% of the prison population. Alcohol is a contributing cause or
consequence of being antisocial. People that are both antisocial and
alcoholic are prone to violent behavior. Not every antisocial becomes a
criminal. An antisocial person’s disorder peaks between the ages of 24
and 44 and drops off sharply after that.
After the age of 30 the
sociopath fights less and performs less crime but the illness can
persist into the ages of between 60 and 70 but after 30 are less likely
to be in trouble with the law. In a sociopaths in their thirties will
continue to have problems such as unstable relationships, substance
abuse, impulsiveness, poor temper control and failure to honor
financial obligations.
In our population 3% men have Anti-Social
Personality Disorder and 1% women in the overall population have it.
The ratio of men to women is 4 to 1. Identical twins are several times
more likely to have a personality disorder compared to fraternal twins.
A genetic link strongest in anti-social disorder has a pattern of
irresponsible behavior 5 times more common amongst close relatives of
anti-social men than in the general population.
Some people with a
genetic link to alcoholism have a genetic link to anti-social
personality disorder too. Male relatives of people with Somatization
Disor! Der have a higher incidence of anti-social personality disorder
( somatization - begins in the teens to twenties and consists of
chronic physical problems and complaints). Sociopaths with a history of
substance abuse and criminal behavior fit Manchausen Syndrome (Manchausen is the extreme type of factitious disorder which symptoms
are lying ,falsification and pathological lying).
Sociopaths also have
a tendency to have a non -psychiatric condition that is called
malingering which is the production of grossly exaggerated symptoms for
a specific illness or problem for the purpose of winning legal action
or things like committing insurance fraud or basically anything they
have to lie to get. The sociopath is a bundle of problems that could
come from any part of life and they are very hard to handle.
If a
person is diagnosed with Anti-Social Personality Disorder is very hard
to treat and there is no cure for their behavior. Because the disorder
remits in the thirties, it tends to be less obvious. Those that are
forced into psychotherapy cannot tolerate the intimacy of the required
therapy.The therapist has to focus on enhancing strength, channel the
sensation of seeking actions on people into more positive socially
responsible behaviors and to teach practical ways in dealing with every
day frustration.
Medications are not recommended in the treatment of
sociopath but drugs can diminish the violent episodes. People with
Anti-Social Personality Disorder also have Attention Deficit\
Hyperactivity Disorder and stimulants are used to treat that such as
Ritalin. There are no long term results to study of this approach of
using stimulants but they should not be prescribed unless the person is
specifically diagnosed with AD\HD and has not responded to other
medication.
The use of drugs cannot be abused and should be closely
monitored. Those that are co! Nvicted of crimes are usually
incarcerated. Some sociopaths may be able to instead of a jail term
choose a residential facility that has counseling but there is a high
drop out rate in those facilities. Another alternative to jail for the
adolescents with delinquent behavior and are in trouble with the law
are wilderness programs that are designed to be like Outward Bound. The
camps much like that in the T.V. Show Neon Rider provide difficult and
dangerous challenges that would keep their minds busy. The success of
the wilderness camps is not quite clear.
There is a disorder called
Borderline that is often misdiagnosed as Anti-Social Personality
Disorder which is quite similar to it. Borderline Disorder is a little
bit more aggressive than Antisocial. Characteristics of Borderline
Disorder · Violating the rights of others and age appropriate societal
norms or rules with at least three of the following in the past 6
months and one in the last 12 Aggression to People and Animals 1. Often
bullying, threatening, or intimidating others 2. Often iniating fights
3. Use of a weapon that can cause serious physical harm to others (bat
,brick , broken bottle, gun, knife ) 4. Physical cruelty to people and
animals 5. Stealing in a confrontation with victim ( mugging, purse
snatching, extortion, armed robbery ) 6. Forcing someone into sexual
activity 7. Destruction of Property - deliberate fire setting with
intention to cause serious damage 8. Deliberate destruction of other’s
property in other ways 9. Deceitfulness or Theft-breaking into
someone’s house, car, building 10. Frequent lying to get goods, favors
and avoid obligations 11. Stealing items of non - trivial value without
confronting the victim -forgery, shoplifting 12. Serious Violation of
the Rules- often staying out all night dispite parental rules that
begin before the age of 13 13. Running away from home at least twice
(once not returning for a lengthy period) 14. Frequent truancy from
school · significant impairment in functioning socially at school or
work · in individuals 18 or older but symptoms don’t meet criteria for
AntI - Social Disorder.
The diagnoses of a sociopath is extremely
difficult because they have so many mental problems to contend with the
complete diagnoses might not occur. The possibility of being diagnosed
with something similar to being a sociopath is quite great and this
point should be stressed with relationship between Borderline and
Anti-Social Disorder. The inability to diagnose and treat properly
leads me to believe that there is not a clear solution as to how the
general population should react and treat these severely troubled
people.
This is a disorder that blinds the emotions and actions the
sociopath which in no way is their fault for having it. Although the
disorder is not the given sociopath’s fault there is no real place for
a sociopath in our society. Because sociopaths hurt us, I believe that
once diagnosed with the disorder that all sociopaths should be sent to
some kind of controlled colony that would run like a normal city or
town except all it’s residents would be sociopaths. I come to this
solution as almost a way to remove them from society and treat the
people in a way to.
By having sociopaths colonized together with all
the parts of a normal society it would be good for them because the
only people the could hurt or manipulate would be their fellow
sociopath. The sociopath would be constantly bored with average person
and sometimes causing them to hurt the average person when if! They
were caused to interact with fellow sociopaths it would keep them
interested because it is not as easy to manipulate or con. The
possibility of violence in my colony is great but the sociopaths would
not mind because it is in their personality and it would serve us
better if they killed or hurt each other rather than us. In closing the
sociopath is so hard to deal with we should make strides to control
their behavior in public.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS
Wing , John Kenneth,
Reasoning About Madness, Oxford Press, Oxford ,1978
Milt, Harry ,Basic
Handbook on Mental Ilness, Scribner, New York, 1974
Hales,
Dianne,Caring for the Mind, Bantam Books, New York, 1995
ARTICLES
Salama M.D., Aziz A.,The Antisocial Personality,The Psychiatric Journal
of the University of Ottawa, Ottawa, 1988
Malaney M. D., Kathleen
R., Patients with Antisocial Personality Disorder, Post Graduate
Medicine, 1992
Unknown, unknown, Psychopathic Patients Pose Dilemma For
Physicians and Society, CMAJ, 1995
Hare Ph.D., Robert,Predators,
Psycology Today, Feb. 1994
Hill, Heather, Monsters In Our
Midst, Homemaker’s Magazine, Oct. 1995
VIDEO
The World of Abnormal
Psychology Personality Disorder
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