This post contains some of the best antisocial personality disorder quotes.
Antisocial Personality Disorder
Sociopathy and psychopathy are both unofficial terms that describe someone with antisocial personality disorder.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR) describes Antisocial Personality Disorder as “A pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others, occurring since age 15 years, as indicated by three (or more) of the following:
1. Failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors, as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest.
2. Deceitfulness, as indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure.
3. Impulsivity or failure to plan ahead.
4. Irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults.
5. Reckless disregard for safety of self or others.
6. Consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor financial obligations.
7. Lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another.”
Related: Is My Boyfriend A Sociopath Quiz
Antisocial Personality Disorder Quotes
1. “A common misconception is that everyone in prison has ASPD. This is simply not true. For example, in one study of 320 newly incarcerated offenders, only 113 (35%) met criteria for ASPD (Black et al., 2010).” – Daniel J. Fox
2. “A failure of empathy or affectional attachment is plainly a risk factor for antisocial behavior because one of the important protective factors that lead us to avoid predatory crime is our inclination to identify with and care about the victim.” – David T. Lykken
3. “Although antisocial personality disorder (APD) is treated in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) as if it were a single entity, most knowledgeable people, whether they hold the union card of a psychiatrist, ~sychologist, or criminologist, agree that APD is a heterogeneous category.” – David T. Lykken
4. “Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) is composed of rule violation, disregard for and violation of the rights of others, and a long history of rule breaking.” – Daniel J. Fox
5. “Antisocial personality disorder does not equate to psychopathy. Although most individuals with psychopathy would qualify for an antisocial personality disorder diagnosis, the converse is not true. Many more individuals qualify for an antisocial personality disorder diagnosis than have psychopathy.” ― Essi Viding
Related: Top 35 Quotes About Sociopaths That Will Make You Feel Seen
6. “Families of antisocial children are characterized by harsh and inconsistent discipline, little positive parental involvement with the child, and poor monitoring and supervision of the child’s activities.” – David T. Lykken
7. “Some persistently or seriously antisocial people do not meet APD criteria at all. One of the major but officially unrecognized subcategories of APD consists of the psychopathies, people whose antisocial tendencies result in large part from biological differences, quantitative differences in temperament, and in some cases, perhaps, qualitative differences in brain function, differences that make it unusually difficult to socialize these individuals when they are growing up.” – David T. Lykken
8. “The antisocial personalities who are responsible for most crime, including violent crime, in the United States are not psychopaths but rather sociopaths, persons of broadly normal temperament who have failed to acquire the attributes of socialization, not because of innate peculiarities in themselves, but because of a failure of the usual socializing agents, primarily their parents.” – David T. Lykken
9. “The cardinal feature of antisocial personality disorder is an incapacity for experiencing genuine inner guilt and the associated lack of concern for others. Individuals with antisocial personality display a predominantly narcissistic orientation in which even the seeming islands of devotion hide selfish motives. They have an excessive sensitivity to displeasure, an ‘addiction to novelty,’ and a highly cynical view of the world. Their self-concept is that of a victim and an exception to ordinary social rules.” ― Salman Akhtar
10. “These were people whose antisocial behavior was thought to constitute the acting out of unconscious, neurotic conflicts. Psychotherapy that was intended to provide the patient with insight into these conflicts too often failed to produce any useful change in the behavior, however, and this classification has gone rather out of fashion.” – David T. Lykken
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