Anti-Social Personality Disorder - Research Paper Example

?Anti-social personality disorder Anti-social personality disorder refers to a disorder associated with substantial impairment of an individual concerning his or her way of thought, situational perception and interpersonal relations. A number of known agents and situations that affect an individual negatively cause the disorder, such as environmental and genetic. Studies have found a profound relationship between traumatic events and antisocial personality disorder as it causes complications in adaptation to normal life (Marten, 2005). In addition, it may be caused by genetic factors that influence one’s psychic organization. This is because just like other personality disorders, it can be inherited easily through intergenerational transmission. In spite of all this, it is more prevalent in males due to the presence of low-activity allele. This affects one’s ability to experience anger frustration and sensitivity to social cues and awareness (Hodgins et al, 2010). Signs and symptoms in individuals with the disorder manifest themselves before the age of fifteen years. Therefore, with this information in mind, a pervasive pattern of general failure obliges with the rights of others and works in combination with three more of the symptoms below. There are a number of ways, in which antisocial personality disorder manifests itself in affected individuals. One of the most common symptoms is that of unlawful behavior leading to multiple arrests and convictions, which is also known as offending behavior. In the above case, individuals with the disorder tend to fail to conform with social norms in relation to the law, and end up performing frequent unlawful acts (Ogloff, 2006). In addition, they tend to violate rules set by society, as well as expectations. This is concerning involvement in deceitful acts that are socially regarded as lack of social ethics and morals. Acts of deceit are engaged in through lying, use of aliases and conning other members of society for personal gain or pleasure. In addition, persons with antisocial personality behavior may exhibit impulsiveness by participating in events randomly; this is due to failure to plan, resulting to impulsivity. They may also tend to be highly irritable and aggressive in their behavior, which results in progressive and frequent exhibition of physical strength in fights and assaults. Stemming from aggression is the reckless disregard for safety of oneself and that of others, in addition, one may exhibit consistent irresponsibility by failure to honor obligations and maintain a consistent working behavior. This goes hand in hand with lack of remorse by failure to rationalize one’s actions and their effect to society (Feldma, 2009). Diagnosis of the disorder occurs once one has had the earlier stated symptoms since the age of fifteen. Therefore, for one to be diagnosed, one must be at least eighteen years old and able to meet the minimum requirements as shown in the above symptoms. To gain information of this, the doctor gathers evidence of the person’s daily life through detailed questions of daily interactions. This is because the individual may be uncooperative by giving falsified information. In the diagnosis of the condition, a number of challenges come up in regard to the authorities conducting diagnostic tests. This is in terms of clinicians failing to diagnose the disorder appropriately, as the patient may lack additional features that are required (Hesse, 2010). The other issue is attribution of signs and symptoms to patients who do not have them leading to over diagnosing the disorder. In addition, other diagnosis methods are through assessment of personality and behavioral deficits (Ogloff, 2006). In this case, personality refers to both interpersonal and affective aspect of an individual, while behavioral deficits reflect on lifestyle and antisocial aspects. This method is used as an attempt to overcome the challenge of over identifying cases based on the offence history of an individual, as is common. Treating antisocial personality disorder is usually an uphill task for those in the mental health profession. As a result, due to the association of the disorder with criminality, those diagnosed are mainly forwarded to the criminal justice department. Conventionally, the disorder is treated through common psychological treatment despite its deficiencies (Ogloff, 2006). Studies suggest that the disorder be treated through behavior change and control rather than traditional, emotional and cognitive approaches such as training in empathy and social skills; in addition, treating the disorder is dependent on a number of factors such as psychopathy. This is because for those with symptoms of psychopathy, there is a need to modify appropriate intervention approaches, instead of following the earlier mentioned conventional method or the behavior modification in order to cater the increased disparity and needs of the patient. Those that are involved in the treatment process include family members, social workers, psychotherapists, pharmacists and psychiatrists, whereby the involvement depends on the treatment options available. As for psychotherapy, the patient communicates with the mental health provider about his or her problem; through which unhealthy, negative beliefs and behaviors are uncovered and replaced with positive ones. It also raises awareness of unconscious thoughts and behaviors by bringing them to light while the treatment teaches the patient of the condition, how to cope with it, as well as problem solving skills. Concerning the use of medication, antidepressants are administered to help calm bring down the symptoms of depression; this is because depression is associated with antisocial personality disorder and is one of the causes of the disorder. They are also used to improve irritability that leads to aggression, impulsivity and anger, as well as stabilize one’s mood (Martens, 2005). In addition to the earlier stated behavior modification, patients also receive treatment through stress and anger management skills. Through this, patients learn how to overcome aggression, violence and anger that are common with the disorder, in turn, patients avert possible situations of exhibiting the symptoms of the disorder. In order to avert the disorder, several measures can be taken before its development and manifestation this can be done through training of cognitive skills for children who are over eight years old, and have conduct disorder (Duggan, 2009). For those that cannot engage in cognitive training programs, strategic, functional and multisystem family therapies could be used as cognitive and behavioral interventions to curb antisocial behavior. In addition, guidance in one’s thought process could help avert the disorder by implanting positive thoughts and ideas. In turn, these cut back on the possibility of one adapting offensive behavior and lack of remorse in wrongdoing. References Hodgins, S., et al (2010). Anxiety Disorders Among Offenders With Antisocial Personality Disorders: A Distinct Subtype? The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, Vol 55, No 12. Hesse, M. (2010). What should be done with antisocial personality disorder in the new edition of the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-V)? BMC Medicine, Vol. 8, p66-69, 4p. Ogloff, J. (2006). Psychopathy/antisocial personality disorder conundrum. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 40 Issue 6/7, p519-528, 10p. Duggan, C. (2009). A treatment guideline for people with antisocial personality disorder: Overcoming attitudinal barriers and evidential limitations. Criminal Behaviour & Mental Health, Vol. 19 Issue 4, p219-223, 5p Martens, W. (2005). Multidimensional Model of Trauma and Correlated Antisocial Personality Disorder. Journal of Loss & Trauma, Vol. 10 Issue 2, p115-129, 15p. Feldma, R. (2009). Understanding Psychology. New York, NY McGraw-Hill. Read More