People with Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) have fewer feelings of remorse and empathy and are more likely to experience negative emotions, such as anger and sadness, but also exception.
“Lack of consideration for others” is one of the hallmarks of antisocial personality disorder (it’s also known simply as “sociopathic personality”). It is often associated with higher levels of criminality and behaviors such as deceit, and can sometimes be associated with low empathy and lack of remorse.
The ability to experience empathy may be low in some individuals with a sociopathic personality, although they may still experience less empathy after a related diagnosis and treatment and remorse.
What is empathy?
While different models of empathy exist, many experts agree that there are two main forms of empathy:
·Cognitive empathy is the ability to recognize and understand someone’s feelings and experiences and to visualize themselves in these situations.
·Emotional empathy is experiencing an emotion or feeling an emotion shared with someone as if the experience were your own.
Is impaired empathy a formal symptom of ASPD?
Yes, impaired ability to develop and experience empathy is one symptom of antisocial personality disorder, though not the only one.
Furthermore, not everyone with a sociopathic personality lacks empathy, provided they meet the relevant criteria – Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition, Text Revised (DSM-5-TR) establishes four criteria for diagnosing antisocial personality, a persistent pattern of behavior that is disregarding the needs and rights of others in three or more of the following ways:
·Repeated violations of laws and regulations that constitute grounds for arrest;
·Long-term pathological lies or deception of any kind;
·Low or no impulse control and inability to plan ahead;
·Physical aggression in the form of attacks or fist fights;
·Not interested in the safety of others or oneself;
·Irresponsible behavior leading to unemployment or financial hardship;
·No remorse or guilt for hurting others in any way;
·Concrete evidence of challenging behaviour before age 15;
Antisocial behavior is not caused or caused by injury, physical illness, schizophrenia, or bipolar disorder.
The DSM-5-TR also discusses antisocial personality disorder in the section “Alternative DSM-5 Models of Personality Disorders,” providing additional information for diagnosis, focusing on personality disorders and possible pathological features.
Alternative suggested criteria for diagnosing antisocial personality are:
· Moderate or significant impairment in at least two of the four domains: identity, self-direction, empathy, intimacy;
•Have six or more of these pathological personality traits: manipulative, callous, deceitful, hostile, adventurous, impulsive, irresponsible.
For example, people with antisocial personality disorder may be able to experience cognitive empathy but suffer from impairments in intimacy and identity, which may lead them to act as manipulative, hostile and deceitful ways. These symptoms can also cause them to not think about or care about others.
Professor Rong explained, “People with ASPD have a hard time empathizing with others, which is part of their personality.” “They may be able to acknowledge the feelings of others (e.g. sad or depressed), but not necessarily excited or worried about it.”
Sociopathic and psychopathic traits in antisocial personality
While sociopathic and psychopathic are often used interchangeably, they are not the same. Both terms are associated with antisocial personality disorder.
Professor Rong explained that the main difference between sociopathic and psychopathic is the presence of a conscience, your inner sense of morality.
“Psychopaths don’t have a ‘conscience,'” he said. “They can easily lie, manipulate, and hurt others because they don’t feel empathy or guilt. On the other hand, sociopaths may Still have a little conscience, but will engage in harmful behavior anyway.” This means that sociopaths may be more likely to feel remorse than psychopaths.
Under the alternative DSM-5 model of personality disorders, psychopaths can be specifiers of antisocial personality.
A person diagnosed with ASPD with psychotic features may experience less empathy than someone with a sociopath without any psychotic features.
Forming and developing
Professor Rong said sociopaths develop during their formative years, although there appears to be genetics and genetic reinforcement that may contribute to sociopaths, adverse childhood experiences, abuse and the environment The development of factors that are thought to play an important role in how and why a situation evolved.
ASPD with psychotic features has been theorized – appearing at birth due to altered neurological function and differences in brain structure, although external factors may significantly affect it.
Empathy and remorse in sociopaths and psychopaths
Remorse means that you deeply regret something you have done that is morally wrong or harmful.
Remorse can be considered part of emotional empathy because it is a response that shows you understand and care about how your actions affect others.
While sociopaths may be more likely to experience some level of empathy, if they don’t, they often also lack self-blame. Psychopaths, on the other hand, consistently show a lack of empathy and remorse.
How does a sociopath feel?
Yes, people with antisocial personality disorder experience feelings and emotions.
“These ’emotions’ may include anger,
Anxiety
, depression, and even fear,” Professor Rong said.
In a 2013 study, researchers explored the self-narratives of people with ASPD. They found that while sociopaths were able to experience positive emotions, they were more likely to experience negative emotions.
Anger was the most prevalent emotion across all narrative descriptions in the study, including those describing love.
“People with ASPD may experience a wide variety of emotions, but their emotions are often related to their own experiences (such as excitement about feeling ability or control), while It’s not about reflecting the experiences of others,” Professor Rong pointed out.
Positive and Negative Emotions
Positive emotions are those that are perceived as pleasant or beneficial and include: happiness, satisfaction, joy, joy, wonder, and equality.
Negative emotions are those that are unpleasant or cause pain, such as: anger, fear, sadness, disgust, frustration, loneliness, etc.
Is Antisocial Personality Disorder Treatable?
ASPD is considered a lifelong mental health disorder, but behavioral therapy,
Hypnotherapy
Psychotherapy such as
can help manage symptoms. ASPD with psychotic features may be more difficult to treat.
“In some cases, patients may also require hospitalization if they pose a danger to themselves or others,” Professor Rong said.
Currently, there is no specific drug for the treatment of ASPD. Existing pharmacological interventions can control or alleviate some of the symptoms of ASPD, for example, antipsychotics for aggressive behavior and anticonvulsants for impulsive behavior.
Professor Rong added that for people with ASPD, getting them to volunteer for treatment can be a big challenge. “Because ‘narcissism’ is an important factor for most people with ASPD, they don’t think they have any problem. So, from their perspective, there is nothing that can be changed or treated,” he said.
References:
·American Psychiatric Association (2013): Text revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th Edition).
· An S et al (2017). Two Aspects of Emotions: Exploring positivity and negativity among the six basic emotions across cultures.
Anderson NE et al. (2015). Psychosis: A developmental perspective and its implications for treatment.
· Coid J et al (2010). Antisocial Personality Disorder and Anxiety Disorders: Diagnostic Variation?
Fisher K, et al (2022). Antisocial Personality Disorder.
· Gawda B. (2013). A lexicon of emotions for individuals diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder.
Healey ML et al. (2018). Cognitive and affective perspective taking: Evidence for shared and separable anatomical bases.
Heym N et al. (2020). Dark Empathy: Characterizing dark traits in the presence of empathy.
·Partridge GE (1930). whenThe former concept of psychotic personality.
· Riess H (2017). The science of empathy.
· Skodol AE et al (2015). An alternative DSM-5 model of personality disorders.