Sociopath - description, causes & treatment forms
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Sociopath is a label given to a person who displays antisocial behavior. A sociopath has absolute disregard for other's rights, this being their essential characteristic. A sociopath doesn't fit within the description of a person who has sane behavior patterns by the society. The symptoms mainly manifest themselves in an individual after the age of fifteen and, if left untreated, these kinds of tendencies can continue growing into adulthood.
Sociopaths are generally physically hostile and incapable of holding on to any situation in life. These are obvious symptoms. It is really hard for sociopaths to stay in relationships. They don't have any regrets for their behavior. Though they have these symptoms, they may be not obvious. Some researches show that a sociopath is usually an individual with a lot of wit and charm. They may be considerate and friendly but these qualities are made up and used by sociopaths to fool others around them. Nearly all sociopaths use drugs and alcohol on frequent basis. These may be used by them extensively and can reinforce their personality of being antisocial. A sociopath also may want to beat his/her feelings of low self confidence through the use of drugs and alcohol.
The causes could be either environmental or acquired through genes. If caregivers are antisocial their children will also have the tendencies of being so. A sociopath's behavioral pattern may also be shaped by the persons they think of as role models; this may be their peers or friends. Guys are more likely to be antisocial than female sex. While 3% of men are affected by this problem, women with antisocial personality make just 1%.
Diagnosing Antisocial Disorder is relatively easy compared to other personality disorders. It is really unlikely that a sociopath would willingly go through the treatment. More often than not medical treatment is sought only at times when directed by a court of law. The sociopath is likely to demonstrate resistance to both diagnosis and treatment in specific cases. In order to diagnose Antisocial Personality Disorder there should be evidence that the subject was diagnosed having conduct disorder from childhood. The individual also should match the minimum of three of the diagnostic criteria set for Antisocial Personality.
Treatment for sociopaths differs from case to case. The particular diagnosis of the subject, medical history, age, environment, physical well-being, and various other factors need to be considered by the doctor. In case the person has additional disorders such as depression, alcohol abuse, or schizophrenia etc., accurate therapy for the indicated conditions will help the person overcome his sociopathic tendencies.
The 3 primary approaches of treating sociopaths are through different therapy types, physical treatment and meds. There are three types of therapies that can be performed to treat the patients, those are behavioral therapy, psychotherapy and cognitive therapy. Behavioral therapy is based on the grounds that the subject has learned improper behavior from his or her close environment during childhood. Based on the antisocial responses learnt in childhood the person having Antisocial Personality reacts to the stimulus in the environment he or she is currently in. After understanding the triggers caused by environment which evoke the antisocial responses, new behaviors are trained for coping with the environment. By this method, it is assumed that good behaviors will displace the undesirable behaviors. Cognitive therapy, which is the next type, is based on the hypothesis that our thoughts govern our behavior. So the behavior can be modified if the disoriented feelings and thoughts are replaced. Therapeutic modeling is also used sometimes, where the patient observes how a normal person copes with difficult situations well. Psychotherapy adopts a more understanding approach by going into the earlier in life incidents in the subject's life and makes him understand the real causes of his behavior.
Article Source: Articlelogy.com
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