Antisocial personality disorder
Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD or APD) is a personality disorder characterized by a limited capacity for empathy and a long-term pattern of disregard or violation of the rights of others. Other notable symptoms include impulsivity and reckless behavior (including substance abuse), a lack of remorse after hurting others, deceitfulness, irresponsibility, and aggressive behavior.
| Antisocial personality disorder | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Dissocial personality disorder (DPD), sociopathy |
| Specialty | Psychiatry |
| Symptoms | Pervasive deviance, deception, impulsivity, irritability, aggression, recklessness, manipulation, callous and unemotional traits and feelings of contempt |
| Usual onset | Childhood or early adolescence |
| Duration | Long term |
| Risk factors | Family history, poverty |
| Differential diagnosis | Psychopathy, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, substance use disorder, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia, criminal behavior, oppositional defiant disorder |
| Prognosis | Poor |
| Frequency | 0.2% to 3.3% in a given year |
| Personality disorders |
|---|
| Cluster A (odd) |
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| Cluster B (dramatic) |
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| Cluster C (anxious) |
| Not otherwise specified |
| Depressive |
| Others |
Symptoms of ASPD must be present before the age of 15 to receive a diagnosis. Antisocial behaviours often have their onset before the age of 8, and in nearly 80% of ASPD cases, the subject will develop their first symptoms by age 11. The prevalence of ASPD peaks in people aged 24 to 44 and often decreases in people aged 45 to 64. ASPD is more common in males than females. In the United States, the prevalence of antisocial personality disorder in the general population is estimated to be between 1% and 4%.
Personality disorders are a class of mental disorders characterized by enduring and inflexible maladaptive patterns of behavior, cognition, and inner experience, exhibited across many contexts and deviating from those accepted by any culture. These patterns develop in early adulthood and are associated with significant distress or impairment. Criteria for diagnosing personality disorders are listed in the fifth chapter of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).
Dissocial personality disorder (DPD) is another term for the same general disorder used in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD). Both have been referred to as psychopathy or sociopathy; however, some researchers have drawn distinctions between the concepts of antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy, with many arguing that psychopathy overlaps with but is distinguishable from ASPD. Furthermore, ASPD can sometimes be confused with being asocial. While their disregard for other people characterizes the first sign, the latter is characterized by a lack of interest in social activities.