Personality disorders have long been associated with a person’s thinking process, behavior, and treatment towards others, impacting the person’s ability to function normally. More specifically, Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) is a mental disorder that impairs a person's ability to regard what is good or bad. Patients diagnosed with the disease show no remorse, have disregard for the law, exhibit criminal behaviors, and develop substance abuse (Black, 2015). With a slightly below 4% prevalence rate, ASPD cannot be diagnosed in children below 15 years (Fisher & Hany, 2019). In diagnosing ASPD, mental health professionals assess symptoms like deceit or manipulation to achieve something, disregard for consequences, or other people's feelings. The disorder’s etiology remains unknown, although several studies connect genetics and environmental factors as possible contributors to the development of the antisocial disorder.
ASPD and psychopathy are often confused together. People with ASPD are deemed criminals due to their violent behavior, impulsiveness, and disregard for the law. The same is assumed for psychopaths. While psychopathy is vested in psychiatry, much of the knowledge about its relation with ASPD is limited. In their research paper, Does every psychopath have an antisocial personality disorder? authors Abdalla-Filho & Völlm (2020) note that only a third of patients diagnosed with ASPD meet psychopathy criteria. According to the authors, not all people diagnosed with ASPD are psychopaths and vice versa. However, over the years, several questions have emerged on whether every psychopath has ASPD. The authors` review of previous literature conforms to the two mental disorders being different from one another.
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In one literature study, the authors highlighted Schneider’s research on the ten types of psychopathic personalities. The research did not associate psychopathy with ASPD, noting that psychopathy is a nonspecific abnormal personality, and some psychopaths can be sociable. The authors further examined Blackburn's research, who acknowledged that narcissistic rather than antisocial behaviors characterize psychopathy. The researcher believes that while some traits of ASPD match those of psychopathy, other characteristics can be found in other types of personality disorders. The authors conclude that not all psychopaths exhibit antisocial disorder traits, but psychopathy is composed of attributes from different personality disorders.
Assessing patients with varying mental health disorders requires adequate knowledge of the clinical guidelines associated with mental health. The information above will help me educate other health professionals on personality disorders. In many cases, families of patients diagnosed with a mental disorder often misunderstand the diagnosis and treatment options. I will use the information to educate them on the same, offering further insights into mental health, personality disorders, and psychopathy. Remarkably, the article was well written and critical points elaborated by the authors. Moreover, consulting previous studies solidified the authors` claims. However, the authors should have included more studies to compare the differences between psychopathy and ASPD. Despite the article's weakness, I would recommend it to other colleagues as it contains crucial information about the correlation between psychopathy and ASPD.
In conclusion, antisocial personality disorder continues to receive attention from researchers as little is known about its origin. Many studies are examining how genetics and the environment play a part in its prevalence. Patients diagnosed with the disorder show no remorse towards others, do not follow the law and adopt criminal behaviors. However, such traits are often confused with those of psychopathy. In essence, a person diagnosed with ASPD is not a psychopath. However, psychopathy shares its characteristics with other personality disorders, including ASPD. Ultimately, mental health clinicians should know the different personality disorders and how best to treat patients.
References
Abdalla-Filho, E., & Völlm, B. (2020). Does every psychopath have an antisocial personality disorder? Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry , 42 (3), 241-242. Retrieved from https://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S1516-44462020000300241&script=sci_arttext
Black, D. W. (2015). The natural history of antisocial personality disorder. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry , 60 (7), 309-314. DOI: 10.1177/070674371506000703
Fisher, K. A., & Hany, M. (2019). Antisocial Personality Disorder. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK546673/
