The Myth Behind Pop Culture Psychopathy: an Overview of Antisocial Personality Disorder

The term antisocial personality disorder, or APD, brings a few things to mind. The word antisocial itself might remind you of the kind of person who is shy, maybe a little quiet and tends to stick to themselves. However, this does not fully encompass traits associated with antisocial personality disorder. Personality disorders are a class of mental disorders characterized by rigid and unhealthy patterns in an individual’s thoughts, behavior, and functioning. (Mayo Clinic, 2014) The DSM IV-TR criteria for antisocial personality disorder includes pervasive patterns of disregard for the rights of others, such as deceitfulness, irresponsibility, lack of remorse or empathy, and aggressiveness.

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