Sociopath - definition, causes & therapy styles
Sociopath is a term given to a person who displays antisocial behavior. A sociopath has outright disregard for other people’s rights, this being their leading quality. A sociopath doesn’t fit within the definition of a person who has reasonable behavior patterns by the society. The symptoms mostly become noticeable in an individual after the age of 15 and, if left untreated, these kinds of traits can keep on growing into adulthood.
Sociopaths are physically aggressive and can’t hold on to any standing in life. These are apparent symptoms. It is awfully hard for sociopaths to hold relationships. They do not have any regrets for their actions. Even though they have these symptoms, they are not always obvious. Through research it has been acknowledged that a sociopath is most often an identity with a lot of wit and charm. They may appear to be considerate and friendly but these qualities are made up and used by sociopaths to fool others around them. High percentage of sociopaths indulge in drugs and alcohol on constant basis. These may be used by them extensively and may strengthen their personality of being antisocial. A sociopath also may try to beat his/her feelings of low self confidence through the use of drugs and alcohol.
The causes could be either environmental or genetic. If parents are antisocial their children may also have the tendencies of being so. A sociopath’s behavioral pattern can also be formed by the people they look upon 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 only 1%.
Diagnosing APD is relatively easy compared to some other personality disorders. It is highly unlikely that a sociopath would willingly go through the treatment. Most of the time medical attention is sought only when determined by a court of law. The sociopath is likely to demonstrate resistance to both diagnosis and treatment in many cases. In order to diagnose Antisocial Disorder there has to be evidence that the individual was diagnosed having conduct disorder from childhood. The person also has to match the minimum of 3 of the diagnostic criteria set for Antisocial Personality Disorder.
Treatment for sociopaths differs from case to case. The particular diagnosis of the subject, medical history, age, conditions, physical well-being, and many different elements should be considered by the doctor. If the person has additional diseases such as depression, alcohol addiction, or schizophrenia etc., proper treatment for such problems will help the person overcome his or her sociopathic tendencies.
The 3 major approaches of treating sociopaths are with the help of some therapy types, physical treatment and meds. There are three forms of therapies which can be performed to treat the patients, those are behavioral therapy, psychotherapy and cognitive therapy. Behavioral therapy is based on the presumption that the subject has learned immoral behavior from his or her nearby environment during childhood. Based on the antisocial responses learnt in childhood the adult having Antisocial Personality Disorder acts to the stimulus in the environment he or she is currently in. After finding out the triggers caused by environment which cause the antisocial responses, new behaviors are trained for coping with the environment. By the mentioned approach, it is expected that good behaviors will replace the undesirable behaviors. Cognitive therapy, which is the next method, is based on the belief that our thoughts govern our behavior. So the behavior can be changed if the disoriented feelings and thoughts are replaced. Therapeutic modeling is also used every so often, where the person observes how a regular person copes with difficult situations effectively. Psychotherapy follows a more sensitive path by going into the earlier in life incidents in the patient’s life and makes him become conscious of the real causes of his behavior.
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