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rpautrey2 · Guest

Psychiatric Forensic Patients With Tattoos More Likely To Have
Antisocial Personality Disorder

ScienceDaily (July 16, 2008) — The presence of tattoos on forensic
psychiatric inpatients should alert clinicians to a possible diagnosis
of Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD), and also about the
potential for histories of suicide attempt, substance abuse, and
sexual abuse, according to research recently published in Personality
and Mental Health.

ASPD is a mental disorder characterised by several psychological and
behavioural phenomena, including a lack of empathy and remorse, a low
tolerance for anxiety, and shallowness. People with ASPD prefer action
to thought, and pathological lying, cheating, stealing, physical
aggression and drug abuse are not uncommon. To be diagnosed with ASPD,
the individual must have developed this behaviour before the age of
15, and as such is qualitatively different from the idea of a
scheming, dishonest business person or politician, unless the
behaviour began earlier in life.

For this research, 36 male inpatients of a maximum-security state
forensic psychiatric facility were studied by psychiatrists from the
Michigan Center for Forensic Psychiatry (CFP). Around half of the
subjects had been admitted because they were found to be unfit to
stand trial and the other half had been found not guilty by reason of
insanity.

Of the patients studied, 15 had tattoos and 17 were diagnosed as
having ASPD. Of those with tattoos, 11 of 15, or 73%, had ASPD,
whereas only six of 21, or 29%, of those without tattoos had the same
diagnosis. The research also uncovered an increased likelihood for
those with tattoos to have previously suffered from sexual abuse,
abused substances or to have attempted suicide.

"Our findings suggest that forensic psychiatric inpatients with
tattoos are significantly more likely to suffer from ASPD than those
without tattoos, and patients with ASPD were also significantly more
likely to have higher numbers of tattoos, a larger percentage of their
body covered with tattoos, and tended to have tattoos in more visible
locations" said lead researcher Dr. William Cardasis, of CFP,
Michigan. "I hope that this provides clues for clinicians to look for
ASPD in forensic psychiatric patients with tattoos, and also to look
for signs of suicide attempt, substance abuse, and sexual abuse."

"One should keep in mind that the population studied was only a small
segment of the population, and not indicative of what may or may not
be relevant in the general population" added Cardasis. "Other
interesting questions which this research raises include whether
adolescents with tattoos are more likely to conduct disorder than
those without, and what effect the meaning and subject content of the
tattoo has."

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Adapted from materials provided by Wiley-Blackwell, via EurekAlert!, a
service of AAAS.

Wiley-Blackwell (2008, July 16). Psychiatric Forensic Patients With
Tattoos More Likely To Have Antisocial Personality Disorder.
ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 17, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com
/releases/2008/07/080715204734.htm

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080715204734.htm