Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) is one of several “Cluster B” personality disorders listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-IV). (The DSM-IV is the book that mental health professional refer to when diagnosing a person with a mental disorder.) The Cluster B category is the dramatic, emotional and erratic cluster of personality disorders. Within the Cluster B, there are four personality disorders which share very similar features. These personality disorders are: Histrionic, Antisocial, Narcissistic and Borderline. The differenciating characteristics between Narcissism and APD behaviors are that APD behaviors are often hostile and aggressive (physical abuse, abuse/torture of animals). Other than those two traits, the other main features are similar to Narcissism.
So What is Antisocial Personality Disorder?
The clinical diagnosis of Antisocial Personality Disorders is described as:
1. Failure to conform to social norms
2. Deceitfulness, manipulativeness
3. Impulsivity, failure to plan ahead
4. Irritability, aggressiveness
5. Reckless disregard for the safety of self or others
6. Consistent irresponsibility
7. Lack of remorse after having hurt, mistreated or stolen from another person
Any three of these symptoms taken together is sufficient for a diagnosis of Antisocial Personality Disorder.
Because there is a lot of overlap between Antisocial Personality Disorder, Narcissism, Sociopathy, and Psychopathy, many professionals consider any of these Personality Disorders to be interchangable. In addition, many professionals no longer use the terms Sociopath or Psychopath when diagnosing a personality disorder, they just refer to the disorder under the larger terms of Antisocial or Narcissistic Personalty Disorder.
My goal is to educate, empower, and inspire other abuse victims in understanding more about what happened to them (and how to prevent it from happening again), as well as how to go on and rebuild an amazing life.
Even though I have had a lot of "in the trenches" experience with highly manipulative people of all kinds, I consider myself to be a student of Narcissism, mindset, motivation, healing, and life in general, and am by no means an expert on any of these topics.
It's for these reasons, that when you are reading my information that I encourage you to hold to what helps, and let the rest go.
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