anthony
Founder
I have watched this occur for quite a while now, and it is only getting worse and worse. Members are calling their abusers, ex's, pretty much any and every abuers who acts inappropriate, nasty, spiteful, hateful, vengeful, is abusive, violent and even a sexual predator, a sociopath, narcissist and labelling with other personality disorders. You can take this and near apply it to all personality disorders, because these are the diagnostic rules that you do not see in the symptom checklist.
Symptom Application
Diagnostic symptoms are not tick and flick, ie. yep, he does that, check. That is not how a diagnosis works, especially a personality disorder diagnosis. You cannot Google a personality disorder diagnosis, obtain the list of symptoms, then start checking them of down the list.
Take that same list, give it to someone else who knows you well, then let them do the same thing. I guarantee you that you have some qualities within that list if you apply a tick and flick approach.
If you're really honest with yourself, you could even apply it to yourself and if you have done that in your life, being what you are basically doing in a tick and flick approach on past abusers and such, you will astound yourself just how many of those traits you have done in your life, even do now or are a part of you. That does not constitute a personality disorder though.
Again, diagnosis is not a running diatribe over a period of time for your personal assessment based on how much a guy has hurt you, abused you and so forth.
That makes him an abuser, an arsehole, and many other choice words. It does not make him a sociopath, narcissist or other personality disorder name you want to readily apply.
The Written Rules Applied To Personality Disorder Diagnosis
You won't find these rules that must also be applied to a person for a personality disorder diagnosis within the symptom checklist, which so many people readily take for application and labelling purposes. These are the required factors before a physician can even review a person for a personality disorder diagnosis:
Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) (Sociopath)
I want to now outline some key elements that many people still more than likely are not aware of with the diagnosis of APD, again, still before you get near a diagnosis.
The person will display as a pervasive pattern within their life, not just a relationship, but their actual life:
You must have a history or harming, disrespecting or violating the rights of others since the age of 15. (In other words, if that occurs later in life, not APD)
In addition, you must have engaged in similar rebellious behaviours earlier in life, prior to 15, demonstrating a history for a personality disorder to actually form.
The most profound aspect of an APD diagnosis is that the person is breaking the law and causing legal ramifications within their life.
Diagnostic Evaluation
I am hoping by now, those with the quick mouth to label people with a personality disorder are starting to rethink their emotional attachment to a person versus the broader context in which a personality disorder can be diagnosed.
Here is the International standard for assessing a personality disorder, which you can quickly see is vastly different than trying to review the 7 diagnostic aspects of APD and fit a person within it. To actually meet just one of those criteria, it takes 10+ questions to ascertain validity on whether a person meets that criterion or not. Again, not a simple tick and flick broad brush approach that many females here seem to be adopting by labelling ex's and abusers with a personality disorder themselves.
The IPDE measures personality disorders according to the DSM-IV. DSM-IV includes ten disorders classified in three clusters and a remaining category. Cluster A comprises the paranoid, schizoid and schizotypal disorder, cluster B the antisocial, borderline, histrionic and narcissistic disorder. Cluster C finally comprises the obsessive-compulsive, avoidant and dependent disorder
The IPDE consists of 99 criteria that are examined by means of interview questions. Each criterion is assessed and given a score of 0, 1 or 2. The assessment of the score is worked out in the interview book. A score of 2 means the criterion is confirmed. A score of 1 usually means that only a part of the criteria is confirmed, and a score of 0 indicates that the answer is negative. It is also mentioned if a criterion started before or after the 25th year. This is because the DSM IV dates the commencement of the first manifestations of a personality disorder at the latest in adolescence or early adulthood.
In other words, from the 99 criteria required to be tested by a psychiatrist, and then calculating global averages, a requirement is defined whether a person meets a personality disorder or not. They don't just ask the specifics listed in diagnostic criterion.
There are other measurement scales one can use as well, though they are just as detailed.
Conclusion
As you can see, I have included information that most people normally don't even know about. This is more doctrine information for those who diagnose mental health disorders, as the public have no real need for such underlying information. There are further factors a psychiatrist uses for assessment that are not listed here, as well as a durational assessment period.
Google can be your friend, it can be your worst enemy. I have read what I can only describe as a band of women who formed together as a hate site, they even categorised their own disorder and called it Sociopathic Personality Disorder, then wrote the site and included a forum of complete misinformation about what a sociopath is, then dumped all their abusive ex's into the pot. This site comes up on the first page of Google for sociopath, so it is disturbing the misinformation out there.
The wikipedia is no better. A freely open site of pages editable by anyone who visits the page, to include any misinformation they desire, as long as they cite a reliable source, ie. journal, study, text publication. There are plenty of misguided studies and books in this world, which do not denote mental health doctrine.
There is no dual application as people attempt to put the use of the word towards. That is an excuse to justify piss poor reasoning to yourself.
Unless you're a psychiatrist and have evaluated the specific person, or the person has been evaluated with a personality disorder, then there is no requirement to apply such labels to any person.
The simple fact that you're in a relationship with a person over a duration, probably says straight away the person is just an arsehole, abuser, etc, male genetics even, which does not make a person a sociopath. There is no other context for the term.
There is no confusion in the above with the word psychopath either, another completely different terminology for more destructive behaviour as antisocial personality.
Symptom Application
Diagnostic symptoms are not tick and flick, ie. yep, he does that, check. That is not how a diagnosis works, especially a personality disorder diagnosis. You cannot Google a personality disorder diagnosis, obtain the list of symptoms, then start checking them of down the list.
Take that same list, give it to someone else who knows you well, then let them do the same thing. I guarantee you that you have some qualities within that list if you apply a tick and flick approach.
If you're really honest with yourself, you could even apply it to yourself and if you have done that in your life, being what you are basically doing in a tick and flick approach on past abusers and such, you will astound yourself just how many of those traits you have done in your life, even do now or are a part of you. That does not constitute a personality disorder though.
Again, diagnosis is not a running diatribe over a period of time for your personal assessment based on how much a guy has hurt you, abused you and so forth.
That makes him an abuser, an arsehole, and many other choice words. It does not make him a sociopath, narcissist or other personality disorder name you want to readily apply.
The Written Rules Applied To Personality Disorder Diagnosis
You won't find these rules that must also be applied to a person for a personality disorder diagnosis within the symptom checklist, which so many people readily take for application and labelling purposes. These are the required factors before a physician can even review a person for a personality disorder diagnosis:
- The traits of the personality disorder/s began in childhood / adolescence.
- The traits affect the thoughts, emotions, behaviours, impulses and relationships.
- The traits of all personality disorders are inflexible and difficult to change.
- The personality disorder is impeding functioning within your life, work, school, family life, friendships and relationships.
- The traits and habits of a personality disorder cannot be acknowledged or confused with the traits and habits of your societal cultural background.
- If problems are caused by more specific medical or mental health problems that affect the behaviour, such as drugs, alcohol, anxiety, depression, etc, then a personality disorder is not correct diagnosis.
Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) (Sociopath)
I want to now outline some key elements that many people still more than likely are not aware of with the diagnosis of APD, again, still before you get near a diagnosis.
The person will display as a pervasive pattern within their life, not just a relationship, but their actual life:
- violence
- impatience
- self-centered
- easily agitated
- little regret when hurting others
- little attention to rules of law (usually lots of police issues)
- frequently thinks others aren't as smart as they are, thus they deserve to be manipulated
- seldom has any close friends
- seldom will be capable of any romantic relationship
You must have a history or harming, disrespecting or violating the rights of others since the age of 15. (In other words, if that occurs later in life, not APD)
In addition, you must have engaged in similar rebellious behaviours earlier in life, prior to 15, demonstrating a history for a personality disorder to actually form.
The most profound aspect of an APD diagnosis is that the person is breaking the law and causing legal ramifications within their life.
Diagnostic Evaluation
I am hoping by now, those with the quick mouth to label people with a personality disorder are starting to rethink their emotional attachment to a person versus the broader context in which a personality disorder can be diagnosed.
Here is the International standard for assessing a personality disorder, which you can quickly see is vastly different than trying to review the 7 diagnostic aspects of APD and fit a person within it. To actually meet just one of those criteria, it takes 10+ questions to ascertain validity on whether a person meets that criterion or not. Again, not a simple tick and flick broad brush approach that many females here seem to be adopting by labelling ex's and abusers with a personality disorder themselves.
The IPDE measures personality disorders according to the DSM-IV. DSM-IV includes ten disorders classified in three clusters and a remaining category. Cluster A comprises the paranoid, schizoid and schizotypal disorder, cluster B the antisocial, borderline, histrionic and narcissistic disorder. Cluster C finally comprises the obsessive-compulsive, avoidant and dependent disorder
The IPDE consists of 99 criteria that are examined by means of interview questions. Each criterion is assessed and given a score of 0, 1 or 2. The assessment of the score is worked out in the interview book. A score of 2 means the criterion is confirmed. A score of 1 usually means that only a part of the criteria is confirmed, and a score of 0 indicates that the answer is negative. It is also mentioned if a criterion started before or after the 25th year. This is because the DSM IV dates the commencement of the first manifestations of a personality disorder at the latest in adolescence or early adulthood.
In other words, from the 99 criteria required to be tested by a psychiatrist, and then calculating global averages, a requirement is defined whether a person meets a personality disorder or not. They don't just ask the specifics listed in diagnostic criterion.
There are other measurement scales one can use as well, though they are just as detailed.
Conclusion
As you can see, I have included information that most people normally don't even know about. This is more doctrine information for those who diagnose mental health disorders, as the public have no real need for such underlying information. There are further factors a psychiatrist uses for assessment that are not listed here, as well as a durational assessment period.
Google can be your friend, it can be your worst enemy. I have read what I can only describe as a band of women who formed together as a hate site, they even categorised their own disorder and called it Sociopathic Personality Disorder, then wrote the site and included a forum of complete misinformation about what a sociopath is, then dumped all their abusive ex's into the pot. This site comes up on the first page of Google for sociopath, so it is disturbing the misinformation out there.
The wikipedia is no better. A freely open site of pages editable by anyone who visits the page, to include any misinformation they desire, as long as they cite a reliable source, ie. journal, study, text publication. There are plenty of misguided studies and books in this world, which do not denote mental health doctrine.
There is no dual application as people attempt to put the use of the word towards. That is an excuse to justify piss poor reasoning to yourself.
Unless you're a psychiatrist and have evaluated the specific person, or the person has been evaluated with a personality disorder, then there is no requirement to apply such labels to any person.
The simple fact that you're in a relationship with a person over a duration, probably says straight away the person is just an arsehole, abuser, etc, male genetics even, which does not make a person a sociopath. There is no other context for the term.
There is no confusion in the above with the word psychopath either, another completely different terminology for more destructive behaviour as antisocial personality.