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PubMed1990

Differentiation of personality types among opiate addicts.

A wide range of studies indicate that although sociopathic characteristics are predominant in opiate addiction, depressive and psychotic features are also frequently observed. To test the hypothesis that there are really three types of individuals who become addicted to opiates (rather than a single, predominant personality style), fifty-three opiate addicts were given the Loevinger Sentence Completion Test, the Bellak Ego Functions Interview, and the Rorschach. Variables derived from these three procedures were submitted to cluster and discriminant function analyses. Three groups of addicts were identified--those primarily with impaired interpersonal relationships and affective lability (42%), those primarily characterized by thought disorder and impaired ego functioning (30%), and a group with diminished ideational and verbal activity (28%). Comparison of the assessment of these three groups with independently defined normal, neurotic, and schizophrenic samples provided support for three opiate-addicted personality types, each respectively characterized as character disordered, borderline psychotic, and depressed. Although there seems to be a predominance of character-disordered individuals who become addicted to opiates, the data indicate several additional types of opiate addicts with different types of psychopathology who may require different approaches to management and treatment.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Six cases of patients with mental retardation who have antisocial personality disorder.

Evidence that antisocial personality disorder occurs in association with mental retardation is presented through case reports of six mildly to moderately retarded men who received a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder. The men were identified when referred by care providers for more thorough psychological and psychiatric assessments. Their histories were marked by thefts, rapes, multiple assaults, arson, and other predatory acts; a lack of remorse for such actions; criminal charges; and predisposing factors such as an impoverished family. Only one man had received the diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder before the assessments, suggesting that clinicians are reluctant to find sociopathic behavior clinically significant in the presence of mental retardation.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Etiology of antisocial personality disorder: benefits for society from an evolutionary standpoint.

As human society is mainly cooperative, it is not clear how antisocial personality disorder (APD) persists. The current explanation is that sociopaths are cheaters who maximize their fitness by taking advantages from others. Although this argument is valid, we show here that society also benefits from APD. We propose that the old phylogeny of punishment, the fact of being a full member of society, the frequency of the disorder, genetics, linkage between two "contradictory" DSM IV criteria for the disorder, and the necessity for society to fight against antisocial behavior, play positive roles for society and/or human groups, especially in the ancestral environment.

Antisocial Personality Disorder↗
PubMed1975

Sociopathy as a human process. A viewpoint.

Case histories of narcotic addicts who also were imprisoned for felony were selected to illustrate some underlying dynamics of Cleckley's so-called psychopath and some principles useful in their management. Often in outpatient settings, such individuals seem to be without anxiety, unable to experience depression, and without motivation for recovery; but in inpatient settings, such deficits appear illusory. Once such chronically sociopathic individuals are prevented from 'running' their resemblance to individuals with severe but thoroughly 'human' and comprehensible personality disorders becomes evident. In treatment, external controls are important. It is vital both to appreciate the contagion of the psychopath's invisible anxiety and to provide such individuals with alternative defenses with which to mitagate their depression. Finally sociopaths must be realistically, but not puntively, confronted with consequences of their behavior.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

A comparison of alternate systems for diagnosing antisocial personality disorder in cocaine abusers.

We evaluated rates, reliability, internal consistency, factor structure, and clinical and predictive validity of antisocial personality disorder (ASP) across three diagnostic systems which varied in emphasis on a) core sociopathic traits and b) independence of antisocial behaviors from substance use in 399 cocaine abusers. Rates of ASP ranged from 7% (Research Diagnostic Criteria) to 53% (DSM-III-R). The DSM-III-R diagnosis of ASP was more reliable at 1 month and 1 year than the Research Diagnostic Criteria. Items assessing core traits of sociopathy had very low reliability and were poorly correlated with other criteria. Across all systems, cocaine abusers with ASP had earlier onset of drug dependence, more psychosocial dysfunction, and higher rates of other psychiatric disorders. Finally, only the DSM-III-R diagnosis of ASP was associated with treatment retention and short-term prognosis. These findings suggest that current diagnostic systems which require core sociopathic traits and independence of criminal behaviors from substance use may be more unreliable and of weaker prognostic significance than less restrictive systems.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

[Types of personality disorders in oxycephaly].

Based on 100 turriecephalous patients 5 types of personality disorders are exhibited, which were found in association with turricephaly: I. the psychosocial disturbed, sociopathic type, II. the neurasthenic type, III. the vascular type, IV. the psychosis type, V. the craniostenosis type, strictly speaking.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Premorbid personality in psychoses.

This study aimed to establish correlates of the dimensions of schizophrenia in the premorbid personality traits of patients. A sample of 112 patients of relatively recent illness onset who were admitted for a psychotic episode were assessed with a semistructured interview for schizophrenia. Positive and negative symptoms were evaluated with the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms and the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms at the time of hospital discharge; positive, negative, and disorganization scores were obtained from these scales. Premorbid personality was assessed blindly through a partially modified version of the Personality Assessment Schedule using interviews with the parents or a close relative. Schizoid traits were significantly associated with negative and positive dimensions. Sociopathic traits were related to the disorganization dimension. Trends toward significance were obtained between passive-dependent traits and the negative and disorganization dimensions, and between the schizotypal dimension and the positive dimension. Partial correlational analyses were used to control for the effect of the remaining personality dimensions on the above relationships. Schizoid premorbid traits were still significantly related to the negative dimension but to a lesser degree to the disorganization and positive dimensions. The association between sociopathic premorbid traits and the disorganization dimension remained significant. These results suggest the preexistence of a three-dimensional structure predisposing to psychoses within the premorbid personality; this structure is more evident in patients with short illness duration.

Adult↗