Developing and Overcoming Antisocial Personality Disorder Essay

Developing and Overcoming Antisocial Personality Disorder Personality disorders are among the most difficult disorders to be diagnosed and treated in psychology. The highly ingrained behaviors of the disorders, the difficulty in differentiating between normalcy and illness, and the patients lack of understanding and excepting their symptoms as abnormal, are all contributing obstacles of the disorder. Personality is shaped by experiences during childhood and adolescence as well as genetics. Therefore, children that develop mental disorders are more likely to develop personality disorders as adults. Conduct disorder in children has been highly linked to the development of antisocial personality disorder in adults. The DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) suggests, but does not require, a history of conduct disorder when making an antisocial personality diagnosis (1). Not only is there a high correlation between people having the disorders, but conduct disorder seems to be a preliminary childhood manifestation of the same underlying malfunctions that are characteristic of the adult disorder, antisocial personality disorder. When looking at the development and causes of antisocial personality disorder it is important to note the symptoms, characteristics, and circumstance of conduct disorder as well. Conduct disorder, a childhood behavior disorder described by the DSM, is characterized by chronic misbehavior. The children and adolescence often participate in serious physical fighting, alcohol and drug abuse, violation of parental and school rules, vandalizing and setting fires, and many other antisocial behaviors. These children, unless adequately treated, have a 50% rate of becoming involved with drugs an... ...y disorder 5)"The Neurobiology of Stress and Emotions.", hormone contributors to antisocial personality http://www.aboutibs.org/Publications/stress.html 6)"CSF 5-HIAA and Family History of Antisocial Personality Disorder in Newborns", article concerning the connection between serotonin and antisocial disorders 7)"Family Functioning and Peer Affiliation in Children of Fathers With Antisocial Personality Disorder and Substance Dependence: Associations With Problem Behaviors.", environmental factors related to the development of antipersonality disorders http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/159/4/607 8)" Aggression and Transference in Severe Personality Disorders.", characteristics of antisocial personality disorder http://www.mhsource.com/pt/p950216.jhtml?_requestid=524313 9)Serendip Website, I-function http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/