Does your loved one persistently lie to you or steal from you?
Do you get the feeling that they have no remorse for hurting you?
Does your loved one have a childhood diagnosis of conduct disorder?
Are your fearful of your safety? Is your loved one prone to violence and/or aggressive behavior?
Is your loved one unable to keep and maintain friendships?
Have you noticed that your loved one has an extreme sense of entitlement, often putting your needs last or not considering them at all?
Do you believe your loved one when they compliment you, or does it seem superficial and manipulative?
Is your loved one reckless and impulsive? Does it seem as they have no self control? Do they have recurring difficulties with the law because of this?
If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you may possibly be dealing with somebody who suffers from Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD)
Antisocial personality disorder is a serious mental health condition which affects an estimated 1-4% of the population (See Statistics). UK Statistics indicate that over 90% of ASPD diagnoses are given to men.
People with ASPD can appear to others as if they just don’t care about anybody or anything but themselves. They are frequently distrustful of authority figures and often find themselves in trouble with the law.
Because of their destructive behaviors, people with ASPD are sometimes viewed by others with judgment and without empathy. Their families, especially their parents, often come under criticism. It is important to understand that there is a distinct neurological basis for personality disorders and that the behaviors of those who suffer from them, while often destructive, cannot be adequately explained purely on moral or ethical grounds.
A convincing academy award-winning portrayal of a young woman suffering from ASPD was given by Angelina Jolie who played the role of Lisa Rowe in the 1999 movie Girl, Interrupted.
ASPD Characteristics & Traits
Acting Out - Acting Out behavior refers to a subset of personality disorder traits that are more outwardly-destructive than self-destructive.
Anger - People who suffer from personality disorders often feel a sense of unresolved anger and a heightened or exaggerated perception that they have been wronged, invalidated, neglected or abused.
Baiting and Picking Fights - Baiting and Picking Fights is the practice of generating a provocative action or statement for the purpose of obtaining an angry, aggressive or emotional response from another person.
Belittling, Condescending and Patronizing - Belittling, Condescending & Patronizing Speech is a passive aggressive approach to giving someone a verbal put-down while maintaining a facade of friendliness.
Blaming - Blaming is the practice of identifying a person or people responsible for creating a problem, rather than identifying ways of dealing with the problem.
Bullying - Bullying is any systematic action of hurting a person from a position of relative physical, social, economic or emotional strength.
Chaos Manufacture - Chaos Manufacture is the practice of unnecessarily creating or maintaining an environment of risk, destruction, confusion or mess.
Cheating - Cheating is sharing a romantic or intimate relationship with somebody when you are already committed to a monogamous relationship with someone else.
Chronic Broken Promises - Repeatedly making and then breaking commitments and promises is a common trait among people who suffer from personality disorders.
Cruelty To Animals - Acts of Cruelty to Animals have been statistically discovered to occur more often in people who suffer from personality disorders than in the general population.
Denial- Denial is believing or imagining that some factual reality, circumstance, feeling or memory does not exist or did not happen.
Depression - When you feel sadder than you think you should, for longer than you think you should - but still can't seem to break out of it - that's depression. People who suffer from personality disorders are often also diagnosed with depression resulting from mistreatment at the hands of others, low self worth and the results of their own poor choices.
Divide and Conquer - Divide and Conquer is a method of gaining and advantage over perceived rivals by manipulating them into conflicts with each other.
Domestic Theft -Domestic theft is consuming or taking control of a resource or asset belonging to (or shared with) a family member, partner or spouse without first obtaining their approval.
Emotional Abuse - Emotional Abuse is any pattern of behavior directed at one individual by another which promotes in them a destructive sense of fear, obligation or guilt (FOG).
False Accusations - False accusations, distortion campaigns & smear campaigns are patterns of unwarranted or exaggerated criticisms which occur when a personality disordered individual tries to feel better about themselves by putting down someone else - usually a family member, spouse, partner, friend or colleague.
Favoritism - Favoritism is the practice of systematically giving positive, preferential treatment to one child, subordinate or associate among a group of peers.
Fear of Abandonment - Fear of abandonment is a phobia, sometimes exhibited by people with personality disorders, that they are in imminent danger of being rejected, discarded or replaced at the whim of a person who is close to them.
Feelings of Emptiness - Some personality disordered individuals experience a chronic and acute sense of nothingness or emptiness, so that their own existence has little worth or significance outside of the context of strong physical sensations and relationships with others.
Harassment - Harassment is any sustained or chronic pattern of unwelcome behavior from one individual to another.
Impulsiveness and Impulsivity - Impulsiveness - or Impulsivity - is the tendency to act or speak based on current feelings rather than logical reasoning.
Intimidation - Intimidation is any form of veiled, hidden, indirect or non-verbal threat.
Invalidation - Invalidation is the creation or promotion of an environment which encourages an individual to believe that their thoughts, beliefs, values or physical presence are inferior, flawed, problematic or worthless.
Lack of Boundaries - A lack of boundaries is often at the root of long-term abusive relationships. Lack of boundaries means the absence of rules, limits and guidelines for acceptable behavior. Inconsistent or intermittent reinforcement of consequences for inappropriate behavior is common among both abusers and abuse victims.
Lack of Conscience - Individuals who suffer from personality disorders are often preoccupied with their own agendas, sometimes to the exclusion of the needs and concerns of others. This is sometimes interpreted by others as a lack of moral conscience.
Low Self-Esteem - Low Self-Esteem is a common name for a negatively-distorted self-view which is inconsistent with reality. People who have low self-esteem often see themselves as unworthy of being successful in personal and professional settings and in social relationships. They may view their successes and their strengths in a negative light and believe that others see them in the same way. As a result, they may develop an avoidance strategy to protect themselves from criticism.
Manipulation - Manipulation is the practice of baiting an individual or group of individuals into a certain response or reaction pattern for the purpose of achieving a hidden personal goal.
Mood Swings - Mood swings are unpredictable, rapid, dramatic emotional cycles which can not be readily explained by changes in external circumstances.
Name-Calling - Name-Calling is a form of Verbal Abuse which people sometimes indulge in when their emotional thought processes take control from their rational thought processes.
Narcissism - Narcissism is a term used to describe a set of behaviors characterized by a pattern of grandiosity, self-centered focus, need for admiration, self-serving attitude and a lack of empathy or consideration for others. The name comes from the Greek Mythological Character Narcissus, who rejected love from others and fell in love with his own reflection in the water. These characteristics are common in people who suffer from personality disorders, especially Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD).
Neglect - Neglect is a passive form of abuse in which the physical or emotional needs of an individual who is incapable of providing for themselves are disregarded or ignored by the person responsible for them.
Not My Fault Syndrome - Some individuals who suffer from personality disorders, in an attempt to hide their own sense of worthlessness or inadequacy, will go to great lengths not to apologize or take ownership for their own mistakes or actions.
Objectification - Objectification is the practice of treating a person or a group of people like an object.
Pathological Lying - Pathological lying is persistent deception to serve one's own interests with little or no regard to the needs and concerns of others. A pathological liar is a person who habitually lies to serve their own needs.
Physical Abuse - Physical Abuse is any form of voluntary behavior by one individual which promotes pain, disease or discomfort on another or deprives them of necessary health, nutrition and comfort.
Proxy Recruitment - Proxy Recruitment is a way of controlling or abusing another person by manipulating other people into unwittingly backing you up, speaking for you or "doing your dirty work" for you.
Push-Pull - Push-Pull is a chronic pattern of sabotaging and re-establishing closeness a relationship without appropriate cause or reason.
Raging, Violence and Impulsive Aggression - Raging, Violence and Impulsive Aggression are explosive verbal, physical or emotional elevations of a dispute. Rages threaten the security or safety of another individual and violate their personal boundaries.
Ranking and Comparing - Ranking is the practice of drawing unnecessary and inappropriate comparisons between individuals or groups for the purpose of raising one's own self-esteem or lowering someone else's sense of self-worth relative to a peer group.
Sabotage - Sabotage is the impulsive disruption of a calm or harmonious status quo in a relationship or domestic situation, occasionally perpetrated by those with Personality Disorders, in order to serve a personal interest, to provoke a conflict or to draw attention to themselves.
Scapegoating - Scapegoating is the practice of singling out one child, employee or member of a group of peers for unmerited negative treatment or blame.
Self-Loathing - Self-Loathing is an extreme self-hatred of one's own self, actions or one's ethnic or demographic background.
Sexual Objectification - Sexual Objectification is the act of viewing another individual in terms of their sexual usefulness or attractiveness rather than pursuing or engaging in a quality of personal relationship with them.
Shaming - The difference between blaming and shaming is that in blaming someone tells you that you did something bad, in shaming someone tells you that you are something bad.
Splitting - Splitting is a psychological term used to describe the practice of thinking about people and situations in extremes and regarding them as completely "good" or "bad".
Stalking - Stalking is any pervasive and unwelcome pattern of pursuing contact with another individual.
Targeted Humor, Mocking & Sarcasm - Targeted Humor is any sustained pattern of joking, sarcasm or mockery which is designed to reduce another individual's reputation in their own eyes or in the eyes of others.
Testing - Testing is the practice of repeatedly forcing another individual to demonstrate or prove their love or commitment to the relationship.
Threats - Threats are written or verbal warnings of intentional, inappropriate, destructive actions or consequences.
Verbal Abuse - Verbal Abuse is any kind of repeated pattern of inappropriate, derogatory or threatening speech directed at one individual by another.
DSM-IV-TR Criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder
Antisocial Personality Disorder (AvPD) is listed in the DSM-IV-TR as a Cluster B (dramatic, emotional, or erratic) Personality Disorder:
A pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others occurring since age 15, as indicated by three (or more) of the following:
Failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest
Deceitfulness, as indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure
Impulsivity or failure to plan ahead
Irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults
Reckless disregard for safety of self or others
Consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain steady work or honor financial obligations
Lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another
The manual lists the following additional necessary criteria:
The individual is at least 18 years of age.
There is evidence of conduct disorder with onset before age 15 years.
The occurrence of antisocial behavior is not exclusively during the course of schizophrenia or a manic episode.
ASPD Causes and Treatment
Unlike the other personality disorders, people with Antisocial Personality Disorder are somewhat easier to spot than those with other personality disorders, because their behaviors often get them in trouble with institutions and individuals outside of the family.
An estimated 80% of the prison population is believed to meet the criteria for ASPD. ASPD is also associated with a high rate of substance abuse.
The precise cause of ASPD is unknown. However, there is believed to be a strong genetic component and some evidence of a relationship between neurological development and the existence of ASPD.
Treatment of ASPD is notoriously difficult and often ineffective. Many ASPD patients are forced into treatment through the legal system or through hospitalization. ASPD patients often treat the therapist as they would another authority figure leading to an often rocky doctor-patient relationship.
See our Treatment Page for lots more information about treatment of personality disorders.
Movies Portraying Antisocial Personality Disorder Traits
Girl, Interrupted - Girl, Interrupted is a 1999 Columbia Pictures movie which chronicles the experiences of a teenage girl with Borderline Personality Disorder, who is admitted to a mental health institution after attempting suicide.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is an 1886 book written by Robert Louis Stevenson which has been adapted into numerous movies and stage productions. The story portrays the mild-mannered Doctor Henry Jekyll, who unleashes his monstrous alternate identity, Edward Hyde, by taking a chemical potion.
Rachel Getting Married - Rachel Getting Married is a 2008 Sony Pictures Classics Release starring Anne Hathaway which chronicles the events surrounding the appearance of a young woman who suffers from Antisocial Personality Disorder at her sister's wedding.
The Silence Of The Lambs - The Silence Of The Lambs is a 1991 thriller starring Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster which features a psychopathic serial killer, Hannibal Lecter, who advises a young FBI agent as she tries to stop another serial killer.
If you suspect you may have a family member or loved-one who suffers from a personality disorder, we encourage you to learn all you can and surround yourself with support as you learn how to cope.
On Tuesday November 1, 2011, the Out of the FOG Website and Support Forum celebrates 4 years of providing information and support for those with a family member or loved-one who suffers from a personality disorder. Our site receives over 2 million hits per year and our support forum has received more than 68,000 posts from 2700 members. Thanks to all who support OOTF with your participation, time and gifts and help to make this unique community possible.
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