Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD)

This mental illness involves erratic or dramatic behavior and extremely impulsive, theatrical, illegal, and promiscuous actions. It is characterized by an enduring behavior that exhibits a disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others. There appears to be some heritability along with other neurobiological, developmental, and social determinants. Males are up to five times more likely to receive this diagnosis and are responsible for almost 50% of serious criminal behavior. They evidence a disregard for the rights or needs of others, tend to break the law, engage in substance abuse, using others for their own benefit, and typically lack a sense of moral conscience. When they lie, steal, fight, or get angry, they exhibit no remorse for their actions and behaviors. Without empathy, they act indifferent to the outcomes of their hurtful actions, blaming others and rationalizing the reasons for harming or deceiving them. Their impulsive, irritable, inconsistent, and aggressive or dangerous behaviors may lead to frequent job or relationship changes. The non-clinical terms of sociopath or psychopath may be used to describe some characteristics linked with this disorder.