Download Antisocial Personality Disorder

Ch. 18 Section 7: Personality
Disorders
Obj: Distinguish personality disorders
from other psychological disorders.
Personality disorders are patterns of inflexible traits that
disrupt social life or work and/or distress the affected
individual. They usually show up by late adolescence
and affect all aspects of the individual’s personality,
including thought processes, emotions, and behavior.
It is important to note the distinction between
personality disorders and other psychological disorders
that they may resemble. Psychological disorders, such
as schizophrenia or phobic disorder, for example, are
episodes of illness that an individual experiences. They
can be distinguished from the individual’s personality.
In contrast, personality disorders are enduring traits
that are major components of the individual’s
personality.
Antisocial personality
disorder is the only
personality disorder for
which there are data on
prevalence. The
estimates as to the
number of affected
individuals vary widely
– from less than 1
percent to almost 10
percent.
Types of Personality Disorders
• Paranoid Personality Disorder – People with
paranoid personality disorder tend to be
distrustful and suspicious of others and to
interpret others’ motives as harmful or evil.
They tend to perceive other people’s behavior
as threatening or insulting, even when it is
not. They are difficult to get along with –
argumentative, yet cold and aloof. Not
surprisingly, these people often lead isolated
lives.
Unlike individuals with
paranoid schizophrenia,
people with paranoid
personality disorder are
not confused about
reality. However, their
view of reality is
distorted, and they are
unlikely to see their
mistrust and suspicions
as unfounded or
abnormal.
• Schizoid Personality Disorder – People with
schizoid personality disorder have no interest in
relationships with other people. They also lack
normal emotional responsiveness. They do not
have tender feeling for, or become attached to,
other people. Thus, people with schizoid
personalities tend to be loners, with few if any
friends.
These symptoms are similar to some of the
symptoms of schizophrenia. Unlike people with
schizophrenia, however, people with schizoid
personality disorder do not have delusions or
hallucinations. They stay in touch with reality.
• Antisocial Personality Disorder – People with
antisocial personality disorder show a persistent
behavior pattern of disregard for, and violation of,
the rights of others. Typically, they do not feel
guilt or remorse for their antisocial behaviors,
and they continue the behaviors despite the
threat of social rejection and punishment.
In childhood and early adolescence, a person with
antisocial personality disorder may run away
from home, hurt other people or animals, lie, or
steal. In adulthood, the person may be aggressive
and reckless, have a hard time holding a job, fail
to pay bills and debts, or break the law. (Can be
confused with a psychopath-who has no empathy
at all)
Explaining Personality Disorders
Most personality disorders were not classified
until 1980, with the publication of the third
edition of the DSM. However, the concept of
personality disorders is not new, and both
psychological and biological theories have
been suggested to explain certain types of
personality disorders.
• Psychological Views – Freud’s psychoanalytic
theory regarding the antisocial personality
type states that a lack of guilt underlies the
antisocial personality. This lack of guilt is due
to a problem in the development of the
conscience, or superego. Research has found
that children who are rejected by adults and
harshly punished rather than treated with
affection tend to lack a sense of guilt.
Some learning theorists have suggested that
childhood experiences “teach” children how
to relate to other people. If children are not
reinforced for good behavior and only receive
attention when they behave badly, they may
learn antisocial behaviors. Such behaviors may
persist into adulthood. Other learning
theorists maintain that antisocial personality
disorder develops when a child lacks
appropriate role models and when the role
models they encounter act aggressively.
Cognitive theorists have
argued that antisocial
adolescents tend to see
other people’s behavior
as threatening, even
when it is not. They use
this faulty
interpretation of other
people’s actions to
justify their own
antisocial behavior.
• Biological Views – Genetic factors are
apparently involved in some personality
disorders. For example, antisocial personality
disorder tends to run in families. Adoptee
studies reveal higher incidence of antisocial
behavior among the biological parents than
among the adoptive relatives of individuals
with the disorder.
The genetics of antisocial personal disorder may
involve the frontal part of the brain, an area
that is connected with emotional responses.
There is some evidence that people with
antisocial personality disorder have fewer
neurons in the frontal part of the brain than
other people. The fewer neurons could make
the nervous system less responsive. As a
result, such people would be less likely to
show guilt for their misdeeds and to learn to
fear punishment. But a biological factor is
unlikely by itself to cause the development of
an antisocial personality.
• Narcissistic personality disorder – involves seeing oneself as the
center of the universe.
• Histrionic personality disorder – connotes overly dramatic
behavior. Excessive emotionality, need for attention.
• Borderline personality disorder – instability in interpersonal
relationships and self-image.
• Eating disorders – anorexia, bulimia, and obesity
• Substance abuse
• Developmental disorders – autism and ADHD
Paraphilias or Psychosexual disorders
• Pedophilia – attraction to children
• Zoophilia – attraction to animals
• Fetishism – attraction to objects, such as shoes.
• Voyeur – someone who becomes sexually aroused by watching
others engage in some kind of sexual behavior.
• Masochist – someone is aroused by having pain inflicted upon
them.
• Sadist – someone who is aroused by inflicting pain on someone
else.