There has been a big wave of stories in the wake of Steven D. Green being discharged from the Army for antisocial personality disorder. NPR had a piece that details the characteristics people with the disorder have, and it does a nice job painting the picture of how manipulative and difficult to treat those folks are. NY Times also had a great piece on military procedure and how antisocial personality individuals can often look like idea soldiers. Since the military does not do full personality testing for soldiers, they have assumed that the rigor and stress of boot camp generally screens out folks who are not psychologically capable of being in the military. The Army discharged over 1000 people last year for personality disorders, so a fair amount slip through that informa screen.

Another article discusses the current treatments available for those with personality disorders, and notes that medication may be overprescribed for the group since other effective forms of treatment have not been completely developed and that the disorders are often misunderstood. This highlights the need for more research and treatment development for those with personality disorders. Finally, on a slightly different note, I often hear people referring to shy or socially avoidant individuals as “anti-social”. Doing this confuses the terms and it should be corrected when possible (plus you’ll sound like a psych expert).

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 10 Jul 2006
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.