Medical Assignment: Overview of Antisocial Personality Disorder

Question

Task: Prepare a medical assignment on the topic “Antisocial personality disorder”. Your assignment must include the following parts:

What are the symptoms?
What would this disorder look like in person?
Based on your research, do you think the media has portrayed the disorder in an unbiased manner, or is it sensationalized? Why do you think the DSM-5 has placed Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Conduct Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Kleptomania, and Pyromania into a chapter call disruptive, impulse-control, and Conduct Disorders?

Answer

Antisocial Personality Disorder
An antisocial personality disorder, explored in the present context of medical assignment,is a psychological condition whereby an individual steadily displays no concern for true and immoral and disregards the moralities as well as outlooks of other people. Individuals with antisocial personality disorder choose to provoke, handle or handle others severely or with heartless indifference. Antisocial persons are never guilty of their actions and behavior. The purpose of this paper is exploring the signs and symptoms of antisocial personality disorder, media portrayal of this disorder.

Symptoms of antisocial personality disorder
Persons with an antisocial personality disorder often show indications and signs such as disregarding right and wrong, persistent deceit to abuse others, showing disrespect to others, utilizing charm to control others for personal satisfaction or personal achievement, arrogance, a feeling of supremacy and being exceedingly opinionated, repetitive issues with the law, including immoral behavior, repeatedly going against the privileges of others through bullying and deceitfulness, impulsiveness, aggression, hostility, lack of remorse towards others, poor or offensive relationships, dangerousbehavior without considering personal safety or safety of others, failure to take into consideration the consequences of their behavior, inability to learn from antisocial behavior, and an individual may be irresponsible and fail to accomplish work or economic obligations(Friedman et al., 2021).

What would antisocial personality disorder look like in person?
A person with an antisocial personality disorder has grown up in challenging family situations, particularly since childhood. Such experiences may arise from abuse, neglect, and traumatic experiences. Usually, an antisocial personality disorder individual portrays responsiveness, constantly breaking laws, violating privileges of others, blaming others for their problems, exploiting others, ever telling lies, stealing and failure to show concern towards others(Friedman et al., 2021). People with antisocial personality disorder go against laws and, as a result, end up becoming criminals. Such behavior patterns lead them to imprisonment. They too misuse drugs and alcohol. Due to these features, an individual with this condition naturally cannot accomplish responsibilities associated with work, family, or school. Children often dislike school; they absent themselves any time they wish (Friedman et al., 2021). Men are victims of this disorder as they would occasionally show signs of committing suicide and getting involved in alcohol consumption. Anxiety and depression are common for people with an antisocial personality disorder. Typically, people with this disorder die prematurely because of violence. It is, therefore, significant to seek medical attention once the above signs are present in an individual.

Based on your research, do you think the media has portrayed the disorder unbiased, or is it sensationalized?

The media portrays antisocial personality disorder in a sensationalized manner. The news that the press offers concerning the mental illness of individuals is tremendously dramatic and biased. The media portrays antisocial personality disorder as dangerous, unpredictable, and always criminals (Valença, 2018). The media model destructive reactions of the antisocial persons, including rejection, mockery, fear, and ridicule (Valença, 2018). Once the media shows these persons on TVs, such people never have self-esteem, and due to this, they cannot seek help from their behaviors, therefore, cannot recover soonest possible. They fear coming out to be helped because of the media portrayal against them. In short, the media consequences are profound regarding people with an antisocial personality disorder. The media encourages stigma and segregation toward individuals with antisocial personality disorder (Valença, 2018). The media may connote that people with this disorder are only pretending when displaying their antisocial behavior when such people need help from their condition in an absolute sense.

Why do you think the DSM-5 has placed Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Conduct Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Kleptomania, and Pyromania into a chapter called disruptive, impulse-control, and Conduct Disorders?

DSM-5 has placed Conduct disorder, antisocial personality disorder, Oppositional defiant disorder, Kleptomania, and Pyromania into one category. All of these disorders are manifested by behavioral and expressive disturbances primarily associated with self-control. All these disorders have severe and enduring behaviors. People with these disorders behave aggressively toward individuals or property. Individuals suffering from all these disorders find it difficult to control emotions and conduct. They may frequently break laws. The disruptive or angry nature of individuals with behavior, impulse-control, and disruptive disorders are dangerous than usual behaviors(Frick& Matlasz, 2018). Such behaviors could be frequent, occur across diverse situations, are long-standing, and cause substantial problems. The DSM-5 has classified the disorders into one category since they seem poorly comprehended, regularly undiagnosed, and ineffectively treated. Categorizing those helps bring adequate attention to look unto their required diagnosis and treatment procedures. As we would understand, the disorders are common and could be exceedingly destructive and unbearable for people, families, and societies (Frick& Matlasz, 2018).

To sum up, antisocial personality disorder is a serious mental disorder that mostly affects men. With its adverse effects on individuals, it is thus significant to seek medical help once one portrays signs and symptoms including delinquency, breaking of law, fighting others, lying, acting harshly, and aggressiveness, abusing drugs, and being irresponsible. The media has portrayed the antisocial personality disorder in a sensational way. This impacts the people experiencing the personality disorder negatively and thus they can never come out to be helped. The DSM-5 has a reason for placing Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Conduct Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Kleptomania, and Pyromania into a chapter called disruptive, impulse-control, and Conduct Disorders.

References
Frick, P. J., & Matlasz, T. M. (2018). Disruptive, impulse-control, and conduct disorders. In Developmental Pathways to Disruptive, Impulse-Control and Conduct Disorders (pp. 3-20). Academic Press.

Friedman, N. P., Rhee, S. H., Ross, J. M., Corley, R. P., & Hewitt, J. K. (2021). Genetic and environmental relations of executive functions to antisocial personality disorder symptoms and psychopathy.Medical assignment International Journal of Psychophysiology, 163, 67-78.

Valença, A. M. (2018). Antisocial personality disorder, psychopathy and media. Jornal Brasileiro de Psiquiatria, 67, 141-142.