Antisocial Personality Disorder

An old woman is sitting at a bus stop. Her bus arrives and she gets on. You look over and notice that she left her bag. What do you do? A “normal” (I use quotation marks because who is to say what normal is? Normal by society’s standards is what I’m going with here, I guess) person would give the old woman her purse. It’s the right thing to do. However, someone with APD (Antisocial Personality Disorder) might take the bag and run. It’s an awful thing to do to what we assume it a sweet old lady, so… why would someone do such a thing? What is APD, what are its symptoms, what is the biology behind it, and what happens within the brain?

Firstly, a personality disorder is “an enduring pattern of personal experience and behavior that deviates noticeably from the expectations of the individual's culture, is pervasive and inflexible, has an onset in adolescence or early adulthood, is stable over time, and leads to personal distress or impairment.” (Antisocial). There are many types of personality disorders, such as borderline personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, avoidant personality disorder, and many many more. A personality disorder makes a person act distinctly different than their family and friends. It usually ends up hurting the person that has the disorder in some way, shape, or form. It also has a huge effect on the people they surround themselves with, such as family, friends, and teachers. In this paper, we will focus on ADP.

“Antisocial personality disorder, sometimes called sociopathy, is a mental condition in which a person consistently shows no regard for right and wrong and ignores the rights and feelings of others” (mayoclinic). In other words, a person with APD doesn’t quite understand that it is wrong to steal an old lady’s purse at a bus stop. They couldn’t care less how that old lady feels and what she is going to do without her purse. Someone with APD won’t feel remorse for this action either. For example, if I were to accidentally drop a piece of ice on the floor and then 20 minutes later hear my mom scream because her sock is wet, I am immediately going to feel remorse and go and clean it up. A person with APD might purposely drop a piece of ice on the floor and feel 0 remorse when someone falls and breaks their hip.

There are many symptoms for APD. They have a disregard for right and wrong. They tend to lie a lot to exploit others. They are usually very disrespectful to people. They use their charm and wit to gain things for themselves, such as items and even pleasure. They tend to be highly opinionated and arrogant. Their answer is the right answer, no question about it. They sometimes have recurring problems with the law. The violate the rights of others through intimidation and dishonesty. They don’t have empathy for people and they don’t care if they hurt another person. They take risks without thinking of the consequences. They don’t think about the safety of themselves or of the people around them. They tend to be very poor in a relationship because of these symptoms. After receiving negative consequences for their actions, they don’t learn from them. They just continue to make the wrong decisions. They repeat their failures. This makes them unable to maintain a job or keep up with financial obligations. They would rather go out and party all night and blow all of their cash rather than go to work. (Antisocial).

While the exact cause of APD is unknown, there are many factors that may lead up to it. “Personality is the combination of thoughts, emotions and behaviors that makes everyone unique” (mayoclinic). Our personality helps us better understand the world and how it works. It helps us connect with other people and build strong, lasting relationships. One factor that may cause APD is a change in the way our brain functions during brain development. This will tend to happen while we are at a younger age (under 10). Some psychologists believe that it may be something that is passed down through our genes. If you have a parent with APD, you might be subjected to also having the disorder. It might not show, but it can be turned on if put into the right environment. If your role model has APD tendencies, you might start copying those actions, believing them to be right because someone you look up to acts the same way. “About three percent of men and about one percent of women have antisocial personality disorder. Much higher percentages exist among the prison population” (Antisocial). Child abuse could also lead to APD. If a child is put under the stress of abuse, he/she will get a different sense of right and wrong than other children, leading to APD. Children with an alcoholic parent are also at risk. When under the influence of alcohol, people act in a way that is similar to APD.

Lastly, your serotonin levels may be the cause of having APD. Serotonin is linked to aggression. Something with an abnormal brain function is usually linked to having APD. We don’t know much about antisocial personality disorder, but we are working to find a way to better help those who have been diagnosed with it. Perhaps if we find a cure, we can stop a little more crime.

Works Cited

Antisocial Personality Disorder. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/conditions/antisocial-personality-disorder

Mayoclinic Antisocial personality disorder. (2017, August 04). Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/antisocial-personality-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20353928