Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 4: Recognizing the symptoms of APD
• Part 2 of 4: Dealing with a person with APD
• Part 3 of 4: Understanding Antisocial Personality Disorder
• Part 4 of 4: Looking for early warning signs
• Warnings

Anti-social personality disorder is a mental illness characterized by an adult who lacks empathy and is unable to repent. In everyday life and pop culture, the terms “psychopath” and “sociopath” are widely used to refer to someone with APD, but these terms are not used in a clinical setting. Clinically, APD is the diagnosis of someone who is chronically manipulative, conning, reckless, and often dangerous. People with APD fall within a spectrum, showing symptoms of variable severity (not everyone who suffers from it is a serial killer or con artist, as the movies depict), but someone within the APD spectrum can be difficult to have around you and sometimes dangerous. Learn how to recognize someone with Antisocial Personality Disorder so that you can better protect yourself and the person suffering from it.

To step

Part 1 of 4: Recognizing the symptoms of APD

1. Know the requirements for a clinical diagnosis of Antisocial Personality Disorder. To be diagnosed with APD, a person must exhibit at least three of the antisocial behaviors classified in the DSM (Diagnostic Statistical Manual). The DSM is the official collection of all mental illnesses and their symptoms and is used by psychologists to determine a diagnosis.
2. Look for a history of criminal activity or arrests. Someone with antisocial personality disorder will have a history of repeated arrests for crimes, major or minor. These crimes often start in childhood and continue into adulthood. People with antisocial personality disorder are also prone to have drug and alcohol abuse problems, which means they may have been arrested for possession or use of drugs or have a drink driving license.
   • You may want to consider doing a background check yourself if the person doesn't want to disclose their past to you.
3. Recognize compulsive lying or cheating behaviors. Sufferers of the condition will exhibit lifelong habits of compulsive lying, even about mundane or irrelevant things. As they get older, this pattern of lying can turn into a scam, manipulating others for their own gain, using their lies. As an additional symptom, they may develop pseudonyms to hide behind, either to scam people or simply as another form of lying.
4. Beware of a reckless indifference to safety. People with antisocial personality disorder tend to ignore the safety of both themselves and others. They can either ignore a potentially dangerous situation or put themselves or someone else in danger on purpose. On a small scale, this could mean driving at high speed or provoking fights with strangers, in more extreme cases it could mean physically injuring, torturing or simply neglecting other people.
5. Identify impulsive behavior or inability to plan ahead. It is common for sufferers of this condition to be unable to plan ahead, both for the short term and the long term. They may not see a correlation between their current behavior and long-term outcomes, such as how drug use now and going to prison can affect their future plans. They may do things quickly without judgment, or make impulsive decisions without thinking.
6. Be on the lookout for repeated physical attacks on others. Physical attacks by individuals with APD can vary enormously, from a bar fight to kidnapping and torture. Either way, someone with antisocial personality disorder will have a background of physically assaulting people, whether or not they have been arrested for. If they had an antisocial behavioral disorder earlier in life, this pattern will have stretched into childhood, mistreating other children or perhaps their parents or caregivers.
7. Watch for reduced work and financial ethics. Those with antisocial personality disorder traditionally have a hard time keeping jobs, receive multiple complaints from their supervisors and colleagues, and may be in arrears with bills and debts. In general, the patient will be unstable financially or work-related, and will spend his money unwisely.
8. Look for a lack of empathy and rationalization of inflicted pain. This is often one of the most commonly associated symptoms of the disorder; someone who has APD will not be able to feel empathy for someone they have hurt. If arrested for a violent crime, he will rationalize his motive / actions and see little or no reason to feel burdened or guilty about his behavior. He will have a hard time understanding someone who is upset by his own behavior.

Part 2 of 4: Dealing with a person with APD

1. Avoid contact if possible. While it can be difficult to disconnect from a close friend or family member, you may need to distance yourself from a person with antisocial personality disorder. This may be necessary for your own emotional or even physical safety.
2. Set good boundaries. Maintaining a relationship with a person suffering from antisocial personality disorder can be quite difficult. If you can't avoid a person with APD, then you need to set clear boundaries for what you consider acceptable interaction with that person.
   • Due to the nature of the disease, those suffering from APD will test and exceed the limits. It is important that you stand up and seek counseling or support groups to help you manage the situation.
3. Avoid signs of potentially violent behavior. If you are in a relationship with a person with APD, especially if that person is also seriously violent, then you need to recognize the warning signs to protect yourself and others. No prediction can be 100% accurate, but Gerald Juhnke recommends looking out for warning signs with the English acronym DANGERTOME:
   • Delusions (or violent fantasies)
   • Access to weapons
   • Recorded history of violence
   • Involvement in gangs
   • Expressions of intention to harm others
   • No remorse for damage done
   • Problematic abuse of alcohol or drugs
   • Overt threats of harming others
   • Short-sighted focus on harming others
   • Exclusion from others or increased isolation
4. Contact the police. If you notice an escalation in threats, or feel that a threat of violence is inevitable, contact your local community police officer. You may need to take steps to protect yourself or others.

Part 3 of 4: Understanding Antisocial Personality Disorder

1. Seek a diagnosis from a qualified psychologist or psychiatrist. Anti-Social Personality Disorder can be difficult to spot because there are so many possible symptoms and variations that can occur. As a result, a person may have the condition when they do not have all the necessary symptomatic requirements. Only a qualified mental health specialist can then provide an official diagnosis. However, you can recognize signs of the abnormality by looking at a combination of symptoms occurring over a lifetime.
   • Antisocial Personality Disorder is in many ways similar to Narcissistic Personality Disorder; someone can be diagnosed with symptoms of both.
   • People suffering from antisocial personality disorder often lack empathy; they also exhibit manipulation and deception.
2. Avoid making an amateur diagnosis. It is one thing to suspect someone of having a personality disorder, but it is quite another to "diagnose" that person unless you are a qualified psychiatrist or psychologist. If the person you are concerned about is a family member or friend, try to support them towards professional help.Treatment may include psychotherapy and rehabilitation.
   • Anti-social behavior does not always have to be related to a condition. Some people just feel comfortable living recklessly and forming bad habits such as carefree and irresponsible living.
   • Be aware that people suffering from antisocial personality disorder rarely want treatment because they often do not believe there is anything wrong with them. You may have to be persistent to help the person and keep them out of jail.
3. Look for signs of antisocial personality disorder throughout a person's life course. Antisocial Personality Disorder is caused by a unique combination of biological and social factors that manifest throughout a person's life course. A person with antisocial personality disorder will show symptoms from the time he was a child, but he cannot receive a clinical diagnosis until he is at least 18 years old. On the other hand, the symptoms of antisocial personality disorder may disappear after the age of 40-50 years; they do not disappear completely, but they often diminish, either as a result of biological factors or social conditioning.
   • Personality spectrum disorders are thought to be partly genetic and therefore never completely disappear.
4. Watch for substance misuse in conjunction with APD. People with this condition often have an underlying substance abuse problem, such as drug addiction or drug dependence. An epidemiological study found that people with antisocial personality disorder are 21 times more likely than the general public to exhibit alcohol abuse and dependence. But this does not always have to be the case. Individual cases are unique and APD does not require alcohol or drug abuse.
5. Understand that antisocial personality disorder is rare in women. Although scientists are not sure why, antisocial personality disorder primarily manifests in men. Research indicates that men make up three out of every four diagnoses of APD.
   • APD can present differently in men and women. Where men are more likely to demonstrate recklessness and violence in the forms of traffic violence, animal cruelty, starting fights, use of weapons and arson, women are more likely to report having many sexual partners, running away, and gamble.
6. Identify a history of abuse in those with APD. Because the disease is only partially viewed as biological, a serious risk factor in triggering it is extensive child abuse. People with antisocial personality disorder have often been physically and emotionally abused by someone close to them for many years. They may also have suffered extended periods of neglect as children. The abusers are often parents who also have anti-social tendencies, which they pass on to their children.

Part 4 of 4: Looking for early warning signs

1. Recognize the relationship between Antisocial Behavior Disorder and Antisocial Personality Disorder. Antisocial Behavior Disorder is the younger counterpart of Antisocial Personality Disorder; in fact, Antisocial Behavior Disorder is Antisocial Personality Disorder for children. It is demonstrated by bullying, disrespect for life (maltreatment of animals), anger and authority problems, inability to show or feel remorse, and generally bad or criminal behavior.
   • These behavioral problems often show up early and are developed around age 10.
   • Most psychologists and psychiatrists view antisocial behavioral disorders as a top predictor of a future diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder.
2. Watch for characteristics of antisocial behavioral disorder. Antisocial Behavior Disorder includes behaviors that deliberately hurt others, including aggression towards other children, adults, and animals. It is behavior that is repeated or developed over a period of time, rather than being confined to an isolated incident. The following behaviors can indicate antisocial behavioral disorder:
   • Pyromania (obsession with fire)
   • Persistent bedwetting
   • Cruelty to animals
   • Bullying
   • Destruction of property
   • Theft
3. Realize the limitations of treatment for Antisocial Behavior Disorder. Both Antisocial Behavioral Disorder and Antisocial Personality Disorder cannot be easily treated with psychotherapy. Treatment is complicated by the common features of co-morbidity, which is the trend of antisocial behavioral disorder to coincide with other disorders such as substance abuse problems, mood disorders or psychopaths.
   • Having two or more disorders at the same time makes the treatment of these people increasingly complex, necessitating the involvement of psychotherapy, medication and other approaches.
   • The effectiveness of even a multi-faceted approach can vary based on the severity of the individual case. More severe cases are less likely than milder cases to respond successfully to treatment.
4. Distinguish between Antisocial Behavior Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). Children suffering from ODD challenge authority, but they feel responsible for the consequences of their actions. They often challenge adults, break the rules, and blame others for their problems.
   • ODD can be successfully treated with psychotherapy and medication. This treatment often involves involving parents in family cognitive behavioral therapy and providing social skills training to the child.
5. Don't assume that Antisocial Behavior Disorder always leads to Antisocial Personality Disorder. It is possible to treat antisocial behavioral disorder before it progresses to APD, especially if the symptoms of antisocial behavioral disorder are mild.
   • The more severe the symptoms of Antisocial Behavior Disorder are in a child, the more likely the child is to develop Antisocial Personality Disorder as an adult.

Warnings

• If you believe a friend or family member has antisocial personality disorder, urge them to seek treatment right away. Do your best to stay safe to avoid being manipulated or abused by the patient.