Antisocial personality disorder & Sociopathy

[SoCalDem]

Antisocial personality disorder

(from wikipedia)

Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) is described by the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, fourth edition (DSM-IV-TR), as an Axis II personality disorder characterized by "...a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood."


http://www.sociopathicstyle.com/traits/classic.htm

Dr. Hare's Checklist (Sociopathic Traits)

1. GLIB and SUPERFICIAL CHARM -- the tendency to be smooth, engaging, charming, slick, and verbally facile. Sociopathic charm is not in the least shy, self-conscious, or afraid to say anything. A sociopath never gets tongue-tied. They have freed themselves from the social conventions about taking turns in talking, for example.

2. GRANDIOSE SELF-WORTH -- a grossly inflated view of one's abilities and self-worth, self-assured, opinionated, cocky, a braggart. Sociopaths are arrogant snip

5. CONNING AND MANIPULATIVENESS- the use of deceit and deception to cheat, con, or defraud others for personal gain; distinguished from Item #4 in the degree to which exploitation and callous ruthlessness is present, as reflected in a lack of concern for the feelings and suffering of one's victims.

6. LACK OF REMORSE OR GUILT -- a lack of feelings or concern for the losses, pain, and suffering of victims; a tendency to be unconcerned, dispassionate, coldhearted, and un empathic. This item is usually demonstrated by a disdain for one's victims.

7. SHALLOW AFFECT -- emotional poverty or a limited range or depth of feelings; interpersonal coldness in spite of signs of open gregariousness.

8. CALLOUSNESS and LACK OF EMPATHY -- a lack of feelings toward people in general; cold, contemptuous, inconsiderate, and tactless.

snip

12. EARLY BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS -- a variety of behaviors prior to age 13, including lying, theft, cheating, vandalism, bullying, sexual activity, fire-setting, glue-sniffing, alcohol use, and running away from home.

snip

16. FAILURE TO ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR OWN ACTIONS -- a failure to accept responsibility for one's actions reflected in low conscientiousness, an absence of dutifulness, antagonistic manipulation, denial of responsibility, and an effort to manipulate others through this denial.

snip


link below has an even scarier list of identifying characteristics...too long to post

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_you_know_if_someone_is_a_sociopath

[patrice]

1. Don't want to belittle OP, but, doesn't that pretty much describe U.S. culture?

[SoCalDem]

2. To some degree, yes it does

But when it applies to an individual who wants to be president, it carries a bit more impact

Having lived with/raised a child who was "one of these" ( diagnosed & treated as a teen), it can create complete chaos in a family.

Thankfully, he never hurt anyone (except himself ..) and he was able to overcome a lot of the impulses & now leads a mostly normal life as an adult, but there were times we thought that we would never see his 21st birthday..

[patrice]

6. I can't imagine what that must have been like!

Having had a few struggles of my own with someone that never got to your level, but still caused real agony, I don't know what I would have done had it been that bad.

& Groups, as in "culture", are different than individuals somehow that makes them more like a flock of birds on wing; they can turn "on a dime" and go in the opposite direction from that in which they were previously headed, so it isn't really a good analogy for pathology in an individual, because there's way more potential for something ELSE to happen in groups compared to how certain individuals have barely any choice at all, because that's who they are and the description contains that fact: stuff going on on the surface looks okay/acceptable, but it's thin and underneath is something else entirely.

[LiberalEsto]

3. It accurately describes corporate culture, at the very least nt

[SoCalDem]

4. Our son's shrink once told us

that people who exhibit this "disorder" often go one of two ways..

life of crime & jail
or they can become:

successful salesman (most are male)
politicians


he also said that probably upwards of 90% of inmates are sociopaths.. but not all sociopaths will be incarcerated. Most just torment their families/associates/etc, but stay ahead of the law or just "nudge" the line without ever really overstepping it..

[Prophet 451]

15. Think that's a little too high, myself

I would say that most inmates aren't sociopathic but, for various reasons, failed to consider the consequences of their actions. As far as can be told, only about 1% of the populace are sociopathic. That said, it's also true that many end up in business or politics since those environments select for the lack of empathy which defines the sociopath.

[tilsammans]

5. So true!

And those types invariably "rise to the top" and become management.

I recommend the book The Sociopath Next Door, by Martha Stout.

http://www.amazon.com/Sociopath-Next-Door-Martha-Stout/dp/0767915828/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336746972&sr=1-1

She really nails the sociopathy of the Romneys of the world.

[valerief]

18. I'm an American. It doesn't describe me or most other Americans I know.

We must travel in different circles.

[cali]

7. sorry, I think remote diagnosis of Romney is silly.

[patrice]

8. I don't think many people take this sort of thing as "diagnosis". We know that we are on

the internet. We know that this is not Romney, but, just a bunch of digits that we are pushing through hardware of various kinds. We know the difference between that and a person . . .

unlike some people around here.

[NJCher]

9. no cure

I've had students do research papers on this topic, and if I read them correctly, there's no cure for this.


Cher

[Prophet 451]

13. Not yet, no

I'm just over halfway through a Psychology degree with a specialism in Criminal Psychology and everything I've read says there is no cure. Sociopaths can be taught to live within societal norms but they will never internalise it the way you or I would.

[SoCalDem]

16. Yes, behavior modification and a "close call" can motivate them to check their impulses

This is what eventually worked for our son, but even though he's 34 now, I still see glimpses every now and then

He sees nothing wrong at all in asking for financial help from us and his brothers, and never pays back a penny.. he gets huffy when we tell him no, and seems to not even grasp the reason why...and after pouring out his recent tale of woe, that's he's bought a new -expensive trinket/toy/vehicle.

We have all agreed that we cannot "help" him financially and I'm sure it angers him, but we got tired of being used.

If he ever truly had an emergency, we would be there for him though.

[hifiguy]

10. It's not conclusive, but Mittens certainly presents

a lot of those characteristics. That boy ain't right in the head.

[leftyladyfrommo]

11. He's not a sociopath- he's a Temple Mormon

Temple Mormons do not ever think for themselves.

[hifiguy]

14. Oh, he's Borg.

That settles a few things.

[Prophet 451]

12. Numbers 6 and 8 are key

Sociopaths are literally incapable of feeling empathy. Nearly everything else flows from that inability. However, it must be remembered that most sociopaths are not violent. They seek to satisfy their internal desires and if those can be satisfied legally, they will do so. The point where they become dangerous is either when those desires can only be satisfied illegally (usually, but not always, sexual sadism) or when they achieve power. Because they tend to be so single-minded and lack empathy, the ones whose desires are legal will quite often end up in politics or the high levels of business as both environments select for those who can do terrible things without remorse. Another thing an assessor would be looking for is animal abuse. Sociopaths think nothing of abusing those weaker than them and that's often revealed in their actions with animals, either through outright abuse or neglect because there is no capacity for empathy, no ability to place themselves in another's place. So they simply don't feel remorse, guilt, sympathy or conscience (or fear but we don't yet know why).

That said, it's not unusual for a fairly normal person to satisfy one or two criteria on Dr. Hare's list. I satisfy one of them myself. The difference is that the sociopath will satisfy all but one or two.

[rocktivity]

17. And in case you think this doesn't matter

Click and guess who.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/rocktivity/433br%20/

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/rocknation/127

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/rocknation/124


rocktivity