More handpicked essays just for you.
Chapter 15 psychology mental disorders
Psychological disorders essay introduction
Psychological disorders essay introduction
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Chapter 15 psychology mental disorders
In America, people are guiltless and do not take other people’s feelings into consideration. Everyday, people manipulate others and in many situations, think nothing of it. These attributes synthesize with the social expectations of society. As a result, psychopaths are able to blend into the social norms easier than they would have been able to centuries ago. Psychiatry began in the early 19th century and since then, doctors still have not been able to determine a cure for Antisocial Personality Disorder. ASPD affects how a person reacts in social situations and how they act in everyday life. There are two terms that are more commonly used to describe those that possess ASPD: psychopath and sociopath. When the term ‘psychopath’ is heard, many …show more content…
A great deal of people show some of these signs, however small they might be. Many people with Antisocial Personality Disorder exhibit traits such as narcissism, sadism, or paranoia. Those that fall more towards the narcissistic side are less likely to be aggressive than those that exhibit paranoia or a sadistic mindset. Narcissistic people only care about themselves; they tend to be more self-centered and egotistical. Research proves that narcissism can also be directly linked to sociopathy. Those that show sadistic traits are the most dangerous of all that have ASPD, since they are commonly the ones that turn into serial killers and end up in prison. Paranoiac people are stuck in the middle of the two extremes. If more than two of the traits aforementioned are combined, the chances of a psychopath being created is drastically
Are psychopaths like Alice, “mad or bad?” (page 21). The question whether psychopaths are mentally ill or just a bad seed has caused much debate. Dr. Hare explains that the problem is not only labeling them mad or bad, but who deals with them. “Does the treatment or control of the psychopath rightly fall to mental health professionals or to the correctional system?” (page 21). Not only are professionals confused on how to classify psychopaths, but the media also creates confusion. Psychopath means mental illness and the media uses the word to classify someone as, “insane or crazy”, (page 22). Dr. Hare explains that even though psychopaths, “cannot be understood in terms of traditional views of mental illness”, they, “are not disoriented or out of touch with reality, nor do they experience the delusions, hallucinations, or intense subjective distress that characterize most other mental disorders…psychopaths are rational and aware of what they are doing and why.” (page 22). Most professionals use the term psychopath and sociopath as one in the same. Since DSM-III, antisocial personality disorder has been used in place of psychopath and sociopath. Philippe Pinel was the first psychiatrist describe a psychopath and Harvey Cleckley was one of the first successful publish a book describing a psychopath to the general public . Pinel used the term, “insanity without delirium”, (page 25). Cleckley wrote The Mask of Sanity, which influenced researchers in North America. Dr. Robert Hare explained that WWII was the first time clinicians felt a need to diagnosis people with psychopathy. Due to the draft, there was a need to weed out the people could disrupt or harm the military structure. Dr. Robert Hare realized how hard it was to identify a true psychopaths from rule breakers and developed the Psychopathy Checklist. This checklist is used world wide to help clinicians identify true
The symptoms an individual could show and experience if they were diagnosed with having an anti-social personality disorder include, but are not limited to, the inability to function in a regular society, fear of interacting with any normal inhabitant of said society, the distancing of oneself from the society he/she has an inability to inte...
Despite the controversy circled with psychopathy within the courts, the diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder, or psychopathy is never successful. Instead it serves as a determining factor for the prison sentence since psychopathic offenders are more likely to offend again and not be deterred (Siegel &
The first part of the disorder that needs to be explored is the symptoms. “The essential feature of Antisocial Personality Disorder is a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood (American Psychiatric Association, 2000).” Some examples of this are that people with this disorder frequently commit acts that could be grounds for arrest (but they do not always get arrested), mutilation of small animals in childhood, or the beating of ones spouse or child. A person with this disorder usually seems to have an artificial charm and can be very manipulative, which may have led to many of the murders in the headlines above. Another key feature of this disorder is that individuals suffering from this disorder tend to be irresponsible, especially in the workplace and finances. The individuals tend to fail at keeping a job for very long and cannot keep track of their spending. Another key feature of the disorder is that the individual usually doesn’t care about the safety of themselves or others. This behavior ...
...res of the psychopaths and gives the reader various examples of these individuals playing out these characteristics in everyday life. A widely used checklist is provided so the reader can get a wide spanning view of what is accounted for when scoring a psychopath. This form of research is very important within the deceitfulness of this population; it allows the professional to ignore their words and examine their actions. Hare made it clear that it is not uncommon for there to be an emotional and verbal disconnect from their actions. With virtually no emotional functioning psychopaths feel no remorse for the offenses that they commit and it is very important that we work towards using the opportunities we have to study and assist these populations; not only for them but for ourselves.
Antisocial Personality Disorder, also informally known as psychopathy/sociopathy, is a disorder where people elicit manipulative behaviors and lack morals. This includes disregard for rules, violence, superficial charm, promiscuity, a superiority complex, and difficulty forming attachments. This is said to be caused by genetics as well as modeling, or watching other people perform this kind of behavior. 3.3% of Americans are diagnosed with Antisocial Personality disorder. It’s 70% more common in males than females and is seen greatly in
Sociopaths are prevalent among society, and some researchers, like Martha Stout, claim that one out of every twenty-five people is a sociopath. However, this statistic is incorrect. This statistic is based on the assumption that sociopaths and psychopaths are the same people—which is untrue. While the sociopathic and psychopathic traits overlap, sociopaths differ in that they are obviously nervous and agitated, unable to create the illusions that psychopaths are so proud of. They live on the fringes of society, uneducated and unable to keep a steady job. Psychopaths, unlike sociopaths, are suave and able to maintain an illusion of conformity and maintain relationships on a superficial level. Both, however, are dominantly male, tend to disregard the rights and social mores of others, and have a tendency display violent and disruptive outbursts without remorse. Unlike psychopaths, who completely lack remorse and the ability to love, sociopaths may attach themselves to certain people, though they still remain contemptuous of the rest of humanity (7).
First, Anti Social Personality Disorder is a mental condition that can cause a person to think and behave in a destructive manner. “Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) is characterized by a pattern of socially irresponsible, exploitative, and guiltless behavior. ASPD is associated with co-occurring mental health and addictive disorders and medical comorbidity.” (Black, 2015) People with ASPD have a habit of antagonizing and manipulating others but also have no awareness for what is right and what is wrong. One tends to disregard the feelings and wishes of others. “ASPD typically begins during childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood.” (Kivi, 2012) ASPD usually is noticed around 8 years old, but it is categorized as a conduct disorder. Though children can be treated in what doctors may think is ASPD, children will not be completely diagnosed with the title of ASPD until at least 18 years of age. In time those with ASPD behavior usually end up turning criminal.
You feel like others are trying to harm you in some way. You may have angry or hostile reactions to insults that someone may say to you. With paranoid, you tend to hold grudges and you think that everyone around you is unfaithful. With schizoid personality disorders you have a lack of interest in doing anything together. You like to do things alone and by yourself. You don’t like to deal with social activities or personal relationships. Most of the time you will have a limited range of emotional expression. Being different in your appearance. People with schizoid tend to direct attention toward one’s inner life and away from the world. The last personality disorder in cluster A is schizotypal. If you have a schizotypal personality disorder you are peculiar with what you wear, how you think, difference in beliefs, and speech or behavior is different. You usually tend to have inappropriate emotions. Social anxiety and you are uncomfortable with close relationships. You believe that you can influence people and events with your own thoughts and beliefs (Mayo
...bly responsible for their riskier behavior which leads them to being convicted for their crimes.
Depictions of psychopaths today have become exaggerated based off of what you see in movies and films. The psychopaths in movies are believed to be dangerous or have an anti-social personality disorder. Not all psychopaths can be defined in that manner. Psychopaths are identified as people who are emotionally unstable. They are ultimately suffering from a chronic mental disorder with abnormal or violent social behavior. There have been studies ultimately wondering if a psychopath is born, or is it raised? Genetics and environment combine to produce conditions that create psychopathology. By paying attention to environmental variables we can potentially reduce the amount of people who become dangerous psychopaths.
Under the Antisocial Personality Disorders (ASPD) in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), sociopathy and psychopathy were listed by the American Psychiatric Association in 2013.
The media most often showcases psychopaths as individuals who are inherently evil and dangerous towards themselves and others. Yet, this concept of psychopathy goes far beyond this idea of pure evil and instead necessitates a needed psychological understanding. These individuals, psychopaths, are generally characterized by a lack of empathy and conscience. Indeed, psychopath’s indifference to the repercussions of their actions combined with other characteristics such as hostility and aggression make for a potentially dangerous personality (Lyken, 1996, p.30). In order to identify a psychopath’s recidivism, it is important to differentiate them from sociopaths who, instead of having a psychological impairment that makes it difficult for them to socialize, have been systematically under socialized (Lyken, 1996, p.30). In accordance. psychologists have developed the methods such as the Psychopathy Checklist- Revised (PCL-R) to help identify those with psychopathic tendencies (Walters, 2012, p.409). That is why predictions of recidivism among psychopaths is most efficient when done
A few of the most common traits used to define the psychopath during this assessment include pathological lying, impulsivity, lack of
In this paper I will be discussing the causes, symptoms, treatments and cures of the psychological disorder called Antisocial personality disorder. Antisocial personality disorder is also known as sociopathy. Sociopathy is a mental condition where someone continuously shows that they are not able to tell the difference between right and wrong. They also chose to ignore the feelings and rights of others they come in contact with. People with antisocial personality disorder tend to be the antagonizer, manipulate and treat others unkindly and seem to have no feelings of remorse because this disorder defeats the personals morals. They are incapable of containing guilt or remorse for their behaviors. Individuals who have antisocial