Antisocial Personality Disorder In 'The Black Cat'

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The narrator in The Black Cat not only suffers from alcoholism, but a mental illness known as antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). There are many ways to define mental illness, and just as many illnesses that go along with the definitions. The many definitions include antisocial personality disorder, and how it affects people. Next, how alcohol affects ASPD diagnosed people more than those who are not diagnosed ASPD. Lastly, how mental illness needs to be treated to help all those that suffer and want to be treated.
Mental illness is defined in many ways; one of those ways is through addiction to drugs or alcohol. Many see mental illness as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or OCD; however, “an addiction can be considered a mental illness in a way that a person with the condition is often unaware of the effect it is having on other people, especially family members” (Addiction). People in the family tend to make excuses for the one that is addicted to a substance. In Edger Allen Poe’s short story, The Black Cat, a lot of the behaviors the narrator presents are attributed to his drinking. The outbursts of rage and violence, he displayed to the animals, he admits that he mistreated the rabbits, dogs, and …show more content…

The narrator tells the reader that he had many pets as a child and said “I spent most of my time, and never was so happy as when feeding and caressing them” (Poe). He does not mention friends, but mentions his wife—who had a similar love for animals. The narrator feels no remorse when it comes to killing his wife, he is smug about the whole situation when the police came to look around “I felt no embarrassment whatever” (Poe). Although antisocial personality disorder is not caused by substance abuse, it is not helped by the use of alcohol or

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