Antisocial Personality Disorder Case Study

Personality Disorders more specifically in this paper we will discuss the Antisocial Personality Disorder in detail. To include what are the signs and symptoms of Antisocial Personality Disorder. What the difference is between Antisocial Personality Disorder and Psychopathy? What causes and the risk factors of Antisocial Personality Disorder? How is Antisocial Personality Disorder recognized in young teens and adults? Lastly and most importantly what happens if it goes untreated or kept in check, and if there is any treatments or cures for Antisocial Personality Disorder? We will also be discussing the case study of Theodore Bundy, and the psychological break down and recognition of Antisocial Personality Disorder of Francis Underwood in TV

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR, 2012) states that a personality disorder is defined as impairments in personality (self and interpersonal) functioning and the presence of pathological personality traits which can be manifested in two or more of these areas: Cognition, Affectivity, Interpersonal, Impulse Control. Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD or APD) is defined as any pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the right of others before age fifteen as indicated by three or more of the following: disregard for common law, repeated deceitfulness or misdirection for the purpose of pleasure of profit, failure to plan ahead, excessive aggression or impatience resulting in assault or physical altercation, negligence of safety (personal or others), lack of obligation to work or financial situations, and shows not empathy of remorse for their wrong doing. This disorder in not diagnosed in people younger than eighteen years of age, but in order to be diagnosed with ASPD the person must have shown a pattern of symptoms since fifteen years of

Is it genetic? Is it the environment they were raised in? Or is it just plan old fashion luck of the draw who gets it and who doesn’t. A large amount of studies have looked into reviewing the neurological factors associated with ASPD and that there is a direct correlation between genetics and Cluster B personality disorders. (Corinne E. Zupanick, PSY.D.) reported that researchers have identified a relationship between impulsive aggression and a complex, neuro-chemical system called the serotonergic system. Although there is no direct biological research that shows a cause for ASPD. It does show link between the amygdala in the brain, which has the primary function of learning from ones, mistakes to be smaller in patients diagnosed with ASPD.
A person with a background history in childhood violence and neglected is at a higher risk to develop ASPD, then a child that doesn’t. Developmental Psychologist have claimed that children with parents that are alcoholics and prone to physical and verbal violence are also at a higher risk of developing ASPD. There are other conditions that are thought to be associated with such as substance abuse, conduct disorder, reading disorder, prenatal drug exposure, abandonment, and in some small cases attention deficit hyperactivity disorder