Dexter Morgan is a character in three novels and a television show. He is someone with Antisocial Personality Disorder, or he is a sociopath. When he was a child, he watched his parents cut up with a chainsaw. This traumatic event is what is believed to have caused his Antisocial Personality Disorder. He has no known drug usage. His trauma causes him to have a need to kill. At first he just kills animals. Then his adopted father teaches him the difference between a good and a bad person. He explains to Dexter crimes which would render a persons right to life. Dexter then begins to kill these people. Dexter even says, “Blood. Sometimes it sets my teeth on edge, other times it helps me control the chaos.1” He says this as an explanation for his need/want to kill.
The first criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder was created in 1978, by Spitzer, Endicott and Robbins. Antisocial Personality Disorder is a disorder common to serial killers, like Dexter. They are people who “use mechanisms of coping in an inappropriate, stereotyped, and maladaptive fashion.2” Inappropriate is one which Dexter falls under. He copes with his tragedy, his love of blood, and his want to kill, with killing humans. This is a violation of the rights of others, their right to life. This is one of the diagnostic criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder. Other people who might have Antisocial Personality Disorder are drug abusers and alcoholics.
The symptoms of Antisocial Personality Disorder tend to begin before the age of 15 and generally stay the same, at least until age 30 when some symptoms start to diminish. These symptoms include, dysphoria (a state of dissatisfaction, anxiety, restlessness, or fidgeting3), an inability to tolerate boredom, feeling victimized, and a diminished capacity for intimacy. Although the true cause for Antisocial Personality Disorder is currently unknown, they believe that genetics may be involved. They also believe that environmental factors may be a cause. Although, I believe that they are just throwing those two out there, because they are the most common causes for psychological disorders. In normal society, approximately 3% of men and 1% of women have the disorder. These numbers are much higher when in a prison type setting.
There seems to be no treatment for this dangerous disorder. They have not found any treatment which is entirely effective. A major problem with treatment whether they had a successful treatment or not, is that most people with Antisocial Personality Disorder don't come in for treatment, as they don't realize that anything is wrong with them. Those whom are “treated” are those who were forced into the treatment. They have tried many different forms for the treatment, meditation and psychotherapy are just two examples. Despite any treatment, unless the treatment is constant and never ending, the subject will return to their previous state.
