Assignment 8: Antisocial Personality Disorder

Starlene Newcomb
AC1304946
C041-Introduction to Psychology
Assignment 8- Antisocial Personality Disorder
11/18/2014

Antisocial Personality Disorder Antisocial Personality Disorder use to be referred to as psychopathic personality or psychopathy according to J. Reid Moloy, Ph.D. Those with ASPD may show a pattern of disregard for others, violating the rights of others, history of crime, legal issues, impulsive and aggressive behavior. In order to diagnose ASPD based on the DSM-IV terms, the patient in question must show a pattern of disregard for others and violating the rights of others from age 15 years, must be at least 18 years old and show a number of certain issues such as impulsivity, irritability, and aggressiveness. In the movie Girl,
Interrupted, we have a chance to observe this type of mental illness, among others. The prognosis of those with ASPD is very poor since there really is no treatment to guarantee any great results since a lot of patients refuse treatment. In order to diagnose this illness, head injury, neurological and neuropsychological impairments need to be taken out of the equation. ASPD is also characterized as a dramatic/erratic cluster of personality disorders. There are several different illnesses that have to be considered before someone is diagnosed with Antisocial Personality Disorder.
These illnesses include substance abuse, drug abuse. Conduct disorder, schizophrenia, mania, narcissist personality disorder, histrionic personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, paranoid personality disorder and “normal” antisocial behavior. There are many theories as to what causes ASPD. Some say that it is because of abnormalities while the nervous system is developing. This can cause learning disorders, hyperactivity and persistent bedwetting. It is also shown through studies that if mothers smoked during pregnancy, their children had a higher risk of developing antisocial behavior. Brain imaging has also shows that abnormal brain function can cause antisocial behavior. Not only do biological components have a lot to do with ASPD, but the environment has an impact too. Inappropriate discipline and not enough supervision have been shown to be linked to antisocial behavior in kids. One of the other factors is child abuse. This has been linked to antisocial behavior because most of these children have parents who are violent and neglectful. With that being said, there are many reasons why someone would have ASPD. It could be a biological issue or environmental issue. It is unknown until studies are done on those in
question. In the movie Girl, Interrupted, the main focus is on a woman by the name of Lisa Rowe. Lisa has Antisocial Personality Disorder, the mental illness talked about above. As described earlier, she does meet one or more of the criteria based on the DSM-IV. She does show a pattern of disregard for others, she is deceitful, aggressive, reckless, shows consistent irresponsibility and fails to conform to social norms. We see in the movie that Lisa often verbally abuses other patients and anyone else she may come in contact with. She will treat a person as she sees fit, either good or bad. We see that Lisa can get whatever she wants from anyone, which would fit into the manipulative category. We also see that she violates the social norms by swearing at everyone and anyone even when they should require a greater amount of respect. Looking at the movie a little more, we see that Lisa was brought back to the institution after running away. She use to have a nest friend in the hospital, but upon her return she finds out that she had committed suicide. She meets Susanna, who suffers from borderline personality disorder. Together, they cause trouble around the hospital, most of which were done because of their illnesses. The girls are sent to therapy, but Lisa does not stay. Because part of her ASPD, she is refusing treatment. With ASPD, it is hard to tell what actually causes it. In Lisa’s case, it would seem to me that it would be biological. Since there really is no back story about her family, I cannot assume that it was because of her childhood. I believe it could be biological because in a study done in 1999 by Adrian Raine using PET scans, he showed that criminals who repeatedly committed violent crimes had 11 percent less frontal lobe tissue than those who were non violent. The frontal lobe is responsible for helping us to control impulses. Those who have ASPD are very impulsive. Lisa has a hard time controlling her anger and shows no remorse for it. This would suggest that she could have a biological issue. In the movie, Lisa did receive treatments such as medications, shock treatment and sedation.
Unfortunately, she did not respond very well to these treatments. I do agree with the medication treatment. Medicine can have a powerful impact on the way a person acts. Medication can be used to control someone’s emotions, anger and more. If Lisa would have taken the medication like she was suppose to instead of refusing treatment for so long, it probably could have helped. I do disagree with the shock treatment and sedation. The sedation will only last as long as she is sedated and the shock therapy just seems over the top. Medication is all that I would use for the treatment of some of her symptoms just to make the her less violent. ASPD will get better with age, but there is the possibility of
regression. Girl, Interrupted depicted Antisocial Personality Disorder almost exactly. All of the symptoms she had, such as the irritability, violent outbursts, disregard for the well being of others and more, were spot on with ASPD. The fact that she did not respond to treatment well was depicted correctly as well. Some people with ASPD do not respond to medications and just have to live with the illness and learn to control it, if they can. This movie draws a good picture of what those with ASPD go through on a daily basis. It is a dramatic and erratic illness that will hopefully have a better treatment plan in the future to help those who absolutely cannot control it.