Question

• Compare and contrast antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy. o How common are each?

Answer 1

Psychopathy is a term that is used to describe a cluster of traits such things as impulsive behavior, lack of regard for others, lack of a normal range of emotional responsiveness and frequent deception or manipulation of others. These traits are also the characteristic features of antisocial personality disorder, which is a type of mental illness legitimately recognised by the DSM. While psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder are marked by a common set of symptoms, their definitions are distinct in certain ways. Firstly, the DSM requires that an individual can receive a diagnosis for antisocial personality disorder only if they have a history of conduct disorder during childhood. Furthermore, it is essential that an individual diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder experiences symptoms outside of the other mental illnesses such as mania or schizophrenia. It is estimated that about 3% of individuals in the general population can be diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder while psychopaths make up about 1% of the population.