Antisocial Personality Disorder

October 11, 2016

Can someone’s personality really be “disordered”? 

Merriam Webster defines personality as “The quality or state of being a person… and the complex characteristics that distinguishes an individual.” And disorder is defined as “to disturb the regular or normal functions of.”

I do have some qualms about the fact that “normal” and therefore, “abnormal” ways of existing are even possible in this day and age, being that we, as a society, seem to be abundant in diversity, multi-cultural exposure, and technological advancement like never before. But I can most definitely see a need for some sort of recognition or diagnosis if a certain way of feeling/ thinking/ being is likely to cause pain, confusion, suffering, or basically anything negative, whether emotional or physical, to the person afflicted OR the people they may come into contact with.

In the case of Antisocial Personality Disorder, I say “disorder” is a good diagnosis simply because people who have ASPD do not feel guilt or anxiety over causing harm or having a negative effect on other people. In fact with a lot of the personality disorders, it appears someone who is diagnosed would be more likely to negatively affect other people, rather than only themselves being affected. Another interesting thing about some of the personality disorders is the person who has been diagnosed does not always see that there is anything wrong with them. With antisocial personality disorder, for instance, the person experiences no remorse for their actions and thinks that anything bad they do to other people is those people’s own fault.

While the diagnosis of a personality disorder has the obvious implications that the person has trouble with healthy relationships, identity, or a “normal” life, it also carries social stigma. “Personality disorders are defined by long-standing and pervasive ways of being that cause distress and impairment through their influence on forming and sustaining a positive self-identity and constructive relationships.” (Rautiainen, 2016) This basic definition provided in our textbooks summary is likely all that the average person will learn about these disorders, unless they are majoring in psychology, have an interest in the subject, or care for someone enough to research their diagnosis. There is also some controversy about a diagnoses of ASPD because of its overlap of and co-morbidity with other mental disorders (Rautiainen, 2016)

Like many disorders, the cause of ASPD is thought to be a combination or variance of certain environmental and genetic factors. An interesting point is that this disorder could be passed on from parents to their kids not only genetically but environmentally. If a parent has ASPD, or other types of psychological or personality disorders, this is going to affect the way they treat their child. Even if the disorder is not passed through genetics, it can develop due to poor parenting or other childhood neglect and abuse. There is thought to be a connection between ADHD and ASPD, it’s been found that people who carry the gene for ADHD will also be at higher risk for developing ASPD. One group conducted a study looking for a specific casual gene and found there is a risk factor contained on allele G of rs4714329, which is associated with producing LINC009511, LRFN2, and TRG1 mRNA in cerebellum and of TDRG1 in occipital cortex (Rautiainen, 2016). The cerebellum is thought to control motor skills, cognition, and personality, as well as autism disorders, and LRFN2 has been associated with learning disability, memory deficits, and abnormal brain volume, hypo metabolism of gray matter structures (Thevenon, 2015). The LRFN2 expression could be related to some of the symptoms of ASPD; including the inability to learn from punishment and adversity to conditioning.

As far as treatment, there has not been found any treatment that is very effective for treating specifically Antisocial Personality Disorder, unfortunately.

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