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The Personality Of Antisocial Personality Disorder

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Today it is estimated that .6 to 4% of the general population are thought to have antisocial personality. (Thompson, 2014) Antisocial disorder is a personality disorder in which a person may have behavioral deficits or tendencies not accepted as normal by society’s standard. Antisocial personality disorder is sometimes also known as sociopathy. Someone who has this disorder may be called a sociopath. Some behavioral deficits seen in sociopaths include, superficial charm, pathological lying, lack of remorse, shallow emotions, and need for stimulation. (Horley, 2014) Unfortunately, Antisocial Disorder still has many unknowns and is in need of more research. Criminal activity, the lifespan of sociopaths, doctors treatments, and levels of the …show more content…

MacKenzie discusses in her article how psychopaths are generally internally affected and experience psychological difficulties, whereas sociopaths are not as internally affected, most of the time they are only affected in their relationship with society (2014). To focus further on sociopathic disorder, Dr. Paula MacKenzie discusses this history of the disorder. MacKenzie defines sociopathy as a personality disorder characterized by a lack of social responsibility and failure to adapt to ethical and social standards of the community (Mosby’s Medical, Nursing, & Allied Health Dictionary, 2002, p. 1599). After she defines the many personality disorders she discusses in the article, she discusses how much of the research of behavioral disorders began in the 1800’s when mental asylums became popular (2014). The first classification of a disorder similar to sociopathy was “manie sans delire” or “insanity without delirium.” Even though psychopathy is the disorder that is said to be genetic, there are significant differences in the biological brains of individuals with sociopathic disorder and those without it. In an article by Blair and Cipolotti, an individual with sociopathic disorder was studied and assessed, and the findings are discussed. When the individual was given a CT scan, an enlarged image of the brain was compared to that of a neuro-typical individual. In the visual comparison, there is a clear difference of the

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