Soulless Monsters A Closer Look at Antisocial Personality...

Every few years there are disturbing, yet fascinating headlines: â€Å"BTK killer: Hiding in plain sight† or â€Å"Police discover at least 10 victims at Anthony Sowells home†; but what would allow an individual to commit the crimes they did? In cases like these there is usually a common link: Antisocial Personality disorder. It is an unknown disorder to most of the population which is why there are so many questions to be answered, the main ones being what is antisocial personality disorder and how does it effect patient and society as a whole? To answer these questions one needs an accurate background picture of the disorder. The first part of the disorder that needs to be explored is the symptoms. â€Å"The essential feature of Antisocial†¦show more content†¦Before the diagnosis of Antisocial Personality disorder is made, it must be distinguished from many other disorders first. The first diagnosis that must be ruled out is Substance Abuse Disorder. This can be very hard because APD and Substance Abuse Disorder tend to go hand in hand, and both diagnoses can be given at the same time. The key in distinguishing the two is that the symptoms don’t occur solely because of a drug addiction, which can lead to being manipulative or the individual stealing money and other property to obtain drugs. APD must also be distinguished from many other personality disorders, because they often share symptoms. One disorder that APD can be mistaken for Narcissistic Personality Disorder because the individuals suffering from these disorders tend to be superficial and un-empathic to others feelings but a person suffering from APD tends to be more aggressive and deceitful (American Psychiatric Association, p.705). Other disorder that share symptoms with APD are Histrionic and Borderline Personality Disorders. Individuals suffering from these three disorders all tend to be manipulative, but sufferers