Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!

Treatment Options

After all of the Symptoms, and Biological Origins, there are the Treatment Options. It is very important to consider all treatment options, yet some can still be more promising than others.

Usually, the only times that people with Antisocial Personality Disorder ever receive any assistance is because it is by a court mandate, as most people with ASPD often times get into several legal issues.

Medication can be effective, but only to an extent. There is no medication to treat all of ASPD, but there are medications that can be administered in hopes of stabalizing mood swings. 1 This is not very common, since most people with ASPD also have drug and alcohol abuse issues. 2

Regualar psychotherapy is the most common. And the medication with the psychotherapy can be effective. However, it is important that in the therapy sessions the therapist not focus too much on the personal issues at the very beginning. This can cause the patient to become apprehensive, and unwilling to cooperate. 3

Occasionally the situation is so bad that the only option is actual institutionalization. Within this option there are two options. One is rather harsh sounding, and effective, while the other works on a "good-behaviour" basis and is just as effective.

The first option is residential treatment. The patient would be involved in group and individual therapy, and medications can be involved as well. This is a rather expensive option, and can take months or even years for the patient to be able to reenter society, so it is usually done willingly by the patient or the patients family.3

The other chioce is less of a choice. By a court order, Subject-ASPD may be required to live in a residential treatment center, but will also be required to work outside of the center. It is usually offered as an alternative to jail-time. The patients are required to pay all living fees and attend all therapy sessions. If they do not find work within a certian amount of time, and do not fulfill all responsibilities they will serve jail-time. 3

As for statistics, the last option has a fifty per cent success rate, while 50% of the patients either go or return to jail. 3






1. Mental Health Net. Treatment: Antisocial Personality Disorder. 03 October 2001 < http://www.mentalhelp.net/disorders/sx7t/htm >.
2. The Gale Encyclopedia of Childhood and Adolescence. Antisocial Personality Disorder. 03 October 2001
      < http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/g2602/0000/2602000047/p1/article.jhtml >.
3.Sarason, Irwin G., and Barbara R. Sarason. Abnormal Psychology: the problem of maladaptive behavior.
       Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall Inc. 1996