While no single illness causes abuse, abusers often exhibit traits of Personality Disorders, particularly Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), along with high levels of anger, lack of empathy, and narcissistic traits, though many abusers lack formal diagnoses and struggle with power, control, and entitlement, not just mental health symptoms. Substance abuse and depression can co-occur and increase risk, but abuse is a choice rooted in power dynamics, not just illness.
Abusive personality disorders, such as narcissistic and borderline personality disorders, can cause significant distress in relationships. These complex mental health conditions can lead to various types of abuse, including verbal, emotional, and physical, leaving victims feeling hopeless and fearful.
The more common depression diagnosis found in the criminal justice system is Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). MDD is a loss of interest and pleasure in usual activities (i.e. hobbies, sports, sex, social events, family time, etc.) that reaches a defined severe level that warrants the diagnosis (Rothschild, 1999).
Dangerous or impulsive behaviors are commonly associated with BPD.
Intermittent explosive disorder (IED) is a disorder associated with frequent impulsive anger outbursts or aggression—such as temper tantrums, verbal arguments, and fights. The observed behaviors result in physical assaults towards others or animals, property destruction, or verbal aggression.
Symptoms
Out of all the mental disorders including depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder, which do you think is the deadliest? A review of nearly fifty years of research confirms that Anorexia Nervosa has the highest mortality rate of all mental illnesses (Arcelus, Mitchel, Wales, & Nelson, 2011).
One isn't worse than the other. They're both lifelong mental health conditions that require medication and therapy. It's also possible to be diagnosed with both BPD and bipolar disorder. In those instances, it can be even more difficult to treat because the conditions can aggravate each other.
Borderline personality disorder usually begins by early adulthood. The condition is most serious in young adulthood. Mood swings, anger and impulsiveness often get better with age. But the main issues of self-image and fear of being abandoned, as well as relationship issues, go on.
A simple framework to intuitively understand what may constitute a mental illness is the 5Ds. Deviation, Duration, Distress, Dysfunction, and Danger.
The term psychotic does not imply that a person is dangerous or liable to behave bizarrely. Psychopathy (including psychopathic and psychopath) is a completely different term. It is a forensic term used to describe a personality with no empathy, a lack of remorse for any crime committed, and a lack of emotions.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): One of the most common mental disorders, GAD is characterized by excessive worry about issues and situations that individuals experience every day. Any worrying that is out of proportion to the reality of the situation may fall under this disorder.
As a Harvard-trained psychologist, I've found that there are seven phrases you'll hear from highly narcissistic people:
Specific ACEs types, including physical neglect, and physical and sexual abuse, as well as parenting malpractices (e.g., overvaluation or neglect) are found to have a direct effect on the development of these narcissistic traits [9].
The most common are anxiety disorders and personality disorders. People with anxiety disorders feel a need to control everything around them in order to feel at peace. They may not trust anyone else to handle things the way they will.
BPD Meltdown
During a meltdown, people may experience extreme mood swings, impulsivity, and difficulty calming down. Understanding how BPD contributes to meltdowns is crucial for developing coping strategies and providing support to manage and navigate these overwhelming emotional experiences.
The "3 C's of BPD" typically refer to advice for loved ones of someone with Borderline Personality Disorder, reminding them: "I didn't cause it, I can't cure it, I can't control it," to help set boundaries and avoid taking on undue responsibility for the person's actions or illness. Another set of "C's" describes core BPD traits for individuals: Clinginess (fear of abandonment), Conflict (intense relationships/moods), and Confusion (unstable self-image).
A person with BPD fluctuates between calm and anger, happiness and sadness, affection and coldness, and empathy and anger. Their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors can change at any time. Their powerful emotions can be provoked by any incident, regardless of its seeming insignificance.
Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia affects approximately 23 million people or 1 in 345 people worldwide (1). People with schizophrenia have a life expectancy nine years below that of the general population (2). Schizophrenia is characterised by significant impairments in perception and changes in behaviour.
While Borderline Personality Disorder is often considered the most painful mental health disorder, other mental health problems can also be severely painful. The most common mental health problems that people face are to stress, depression and anxiety.
Eating disorders (e.g., anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa) are associated with high premature mortality and are generally considered to be among the most lethal of all psychiatric disorders (1).
Common signs of a sociopath
The nine criteria of narcissistic personality disorder
Antisocial behaviours typically have their onset before age 8 years. Nearly 80% of people with ASPD developed their first symptom by age 11 years. Boys develop symptoms earlier than girls, who may not develop symptoms until puberty.