Antisocial Personality Disorder and Effects in Life

By: Jiyu Choi 

Abstract 

Antisocial personality disorder is a very harmful and dangerous disorder that can make people physically violent and emotionally abusive. This disorder can lead to downfalls in life and causes you to make unhealthy and terrible decisions. It ruins social and financial relationships and lives. Due to the fact there is no proven cause or prevention, it is a scary and dangerous disorder to develop. 

Causes and Effects of Antisocial Personality Disorder 

The causes of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) are unconfirmed at this moment, but many speculate that the main causes could be genetics or childhood trauma. Some genes cause people to have a trigger in their brain which allows ASPD to develop (Mayo Foundation, 2023). Studies show that men are more vulnerable to this disorder than women (NHS, 2021). The effects of antisocial personality disorder lead to bad decisions in life that you cannot control. Many studies show that this disorder leads to higher chances of abuse, being arrested and sent to prison, alcohol and drug abuse, being suicidal, and having other mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. Due to these results, it make it very hard for the person with this disorder to live a normal life and have a stable social and economic life. The prevention to this disorder is to get mental help as soon as possible or before the symptoms become too extreme. Many times, people with ASPD are considered violent and have poor life chances and opportunities (Mayo Foundation, 2023).  

Symptoms of Antisocial Personality Disorder 

There are many symptoms that can indicate if one has antisocial personality disorder, but the most common are the following. People with this disorder usually are destructive and are part of criminal activities. They do many morally wrong things such as theft, lying, manipulation, shamelessness, and more. It is shown that they do this purely for entertainment or for their own pleasure. They also use the same tactics to get their way in things (Mayo Foundation, 2023).  Being heartless is a common factor, they have no love or compassion for humans or any other living things. They are reckless and do as they please. (NHS, 2021). 

How It Affects Social Life 

Antisocial personality disorder can make a person act unreasonably towards another person. They can get physically violent, creating fear and resentment towards them. This would make it hard for people to get emotionally close to the person with this disorder. Even if they don’t ever get physically violent, it is common for them to emotionally abuse another person. To get what they want, which can range from pure entertainment to actual purposes, they manipulate and exploit them. They are also known to be irresponsible which makes people avoid them as much as possible and unable to get a good job. ASPD makes the person become someone that everyone would have a hard time spending time with and getting to know as a human. They do not care for anyone else’s feelings apart from their own. These actions could harm the other person’s emotional health as well. (NHS, 2021) 

Conclusion 

Antisocial personality disorder is rare but when it occurs, it is very threatening and murderous. The causes are unknown but it is suspected that it is due to a gene that causes this disorder to develop when met with specific trauma. It ruins social lives since it makes the person very violent, irresponsible, reckless, and inhumane. Many people with this disorder either end up in jail or become homeless. 

References 

NHS. (2021, December 23). Antisocial personality disorder. NHS choices. https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/antisocial-personality-disorder/ 

Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2023, February 24). Antisocial personality disorder. Mayo Clinic. 

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/antisocial-personality-disorder/symptom s-causes/syc-20353928# 

Antisocial personality disorder: Beyond keeping to yourself. Cleveland Clinic. (2025, February 7). 

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9657-antisocial-personality-disorder