Question

For each case history provide:

1. a diagnosis;
2. list the criteria required for the diagnosis; and
3. provide examples from the case history for each of the criteria listed.
   For example, if one of the criteria for a diagnosis is "delusions", then you should list "delusions, e.g., believes he is receiving special/hidden messages from television programs that he only understands".

Milo Tark (Morrison, 1995, pp. 476-477)

Milo Tark was 23, good-looking, and smart. When he worked, he was well paid as a heating and air conditioning installer. He had got into that trade when he left high school, which happened somewhere in the middle of his 10th-grade year. Since then, he had had at least 15 different jobs; the longest of them had lasted six months.

Milo was referred for evaluation after he was caught trying to con money from elderly patrons at an automatic teller machine (ATM). The machine was one of two that served the branch bank where his mother worked as assistant manager.

"The little devil!" his father exclaimed during the initial interview. "He was always a difficult one to raise, even when he was a kid. Kinda reminded me of me, sometimes. Only I pulled out of it."

Milo picked a lot of fights when he was a boy. He had bloodied his first nose when he was only five, and the world-class spanking his father had given him had taught him nothing about keeping his fists to himself. Later he was suspended from the seventh grade for extorting $3 and change from an eight-year-old. When the suspension was finally lifted, he responded by ditching class for 47 straight days. Then began a string of encounters with the police beginning with shoplifting (condoms) and progressing through breaking and entering (four counts) to grand theft auto when he was 15. For stealing the Toyota, he was sent for half a year to a camp run by the state youth authority. "It was the only six months his mother and I ever knew where he was at night," his father observed.

Milo's time in detention seemed to have done him some good, at least initially. Although he never returned to school, for the next two years he avoided arrest and intermittently applied himself to learning his trade. Then he celebrated his 19th birthday by getting drunk and joining the Army. Within a few months he was out on the street again, with a bad-conduct discharge for sharing cocaine in his barracks and assaulting two corporals, his first sergeant, and a second lieutenant. For the next several years, he worked when he needed cash and couldn't get it any other way. Not long before this evaluation, he had gotten a 16-year-old girl pregnant.

"She was just a ditsy broad." Milo lounged back, one leg over the arm of the interview chair. He had managed to grow a scraggly beard, and he rolled a toothpick around in the corner of his mouth. The letters H-A-T-E and L-O-V-E were clumsily tattooed across the knuckles of either hand. "She didn't object when she was gettin' laid."

Milo's mood was good now, and he had never had anything that resembled mania. There had never been symptoms of psychosis, except for the time he was coming off speed. He "felt a little paranoid" then, but it didn't last.

The ATM job was a scam thought up by a friend. The friend had read something like it in the newspaper and decided it would be a good way to obtain fast cash. They had never thought they might get caught, and Milo hadn't considered the effect it would have on his mother. He merely yawned and said, "She can always get another job."

Answer 1

Milo shows symptoms of Antisocial Personality Disorder.

The diagnostic criteria includes the following:

a) Failing to conform to social norms in terms of lawful behaviour which lead to grounds for arrest. For example, Milo has been found stealing the Toyota for which he was arrested. He had seen a string of encounters with the police beginning with shoplifting.

b) Deceitfulness which can be seen by repeated lying or conning others for having personal profit. For example, Milo was caught trying to con money from elderly patrons at an automatic teller machine (ATM).

c) Impulsivity or the inability to plan ahead. For example, Milo's behaviour shows how impulsive he has been since childhood and also he hasn't been able to plan a good career for himself as he is seen to have changed nearly 15 jobs.

d) Aggressiveness and Irritability which can be seen in the form of physical fights. For example, Milo picked a lot of fights when he was a boy.

e) Reckless disregard for the safety of oneself or other people around. For example, Milo felt a little paranoid when he was driving off speed which means he didn't regard for his own safety or for the safety of others.

f) Consistent irresponsibility that can be seen in the failure to sustain consistent work behaviour. For example, Milo had to change nearly 15 jobs because of his inconsistent work behaviour and he was also found guilty for sharing cocaine in his barracks and assaulting two corporals when he was in the Army.

g) Lack of remorse. For example, Milo had gotten a 16-year-old girl pregnant and didn't even feel any remorse for it as he said in his statement that "She didn't object when she was gettin' laid." Milo also did not feel remorse for his mother as she was the manager of the bank where he committed the crime.

The diagnostic criteria also states that the individual should be at least 18 years of age. For example, Milo is 23 years old and so he can be diagnosed with Antisocial Personality Disorder.

The diagnostic criteria also suggests that there should be evidence of conduct disorder before 15 years of age. For example, Milo has been picking up a lot of fights since he was young boy. He was involved in shoplifting and stealing the Toyota for which he was arrested.

Lastly, the diagnostic criteria states that the presence of Antisocial behaviour is not during a course of Schizophrenia or bipolar diorser. For example, Milo's case shows that he has never been experiencing any symptoms of psychosis or mania.

Thus, Milo is diagnosed with Antisocial Personality Disorder.