COSIG CONFERENCE BROCHURE.pdf - Drexel University College ...

COSIG Co-Occurring Disorders Conference, Hershey PA, May 15-17, 2006
History of Antisocial Personality
Disorder
• 1801, Phillipe Pinel worked with people whom he called
mad but not confused (“manie sans delire)
• Benjamin Rush- the disorder was life time irresponsibility
without remorse
• 1835, J.C. Pritchard-”moral insanity”
• 1878, Lombroso and Gouster-born juvenile delinquents
with recognizable criminal faces
• 1891, J.L. Koch-”psychopathic inferiority”
• 1941, Hervey Cleckley-developed the first coherent
description of the antisocial personality in his book, The
Mask of Sanity
Demographics of ASP
• 3% of Males in the general population meet
the DSM IV criteria for ASP.
• 1% of Females in the general population
meet the DSM IV criteria for ASP.
• If the census numbers for the population of
the U.S. are correct, i.e. approximately 300
million–that equates to 12 million persons in
our society meet the criteria for ASP.
Central Features of APD
• Inadequate conscious or superego
• Emotional Immaturity-Egocentricity-
Impulsivity
• Stunted Capacity for Love and Emotional
Involvement
• Distress in Functional Life Areas
Associated Features
(DSM IV 1994)
• People with ASP frequently lack empathy,
tend to be callous, and contemptuous of
feelings, rights, and sufferings of others.
• They may have an inflated and arrogant selfappraisal(e.g.
feel that ordinary work is
beneath them or lack a realistic concern
about their current problems or their future).
• They may be excessively opinionated, selfassured,
or cocky.
• They may express a glib, superficial charm
and can be quite voluble and verbally
facile...or in other words–great bull-shitters..
• May be irresponsible as parents.
• May become impoverished or even
homeless.
• Are more likely than people in the general
population to die prematurely by violent
means.
• May experience dysphoria, complaints of
tension, inability to tolerate boredom, and
depressed mood.
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