This is the logical continuation of the previous post.
Mental illness carries great stigma, but ASPD and psychopathy contain a heightened level of stigma. Very rarely do those advocating the removal of stigma from discourses on “acceptable” mental illness extend their efforts to the “darker” shades of the human mind. The afflictions of those who are deviltouched is hardly ever considered. The challenges that those with ASPD and/or psychopathy face are as severe and often more so. Those of us that possess both intelligence and introspection realize that our wiring makes us susceptible to actions that could land us in prison or otherwise remove us from society.
As much as I trust my psychotherapist, I was hesitant to reveal anything regarding my antisocial side for the longest time. It would be nearly one hundred sessions before I mentioned anything regarding my proclivities and another hundred or so before we began to investigate them in full. Why? Simple. I feared for the professional relationship and my freedom. What if I was deemed a danger to others? What if she bristled and dropped me as a client? With such stigma associated with my wiring, even I found it difficult, at first, to properly discuss that which needed attention so badly.
Many with ASPD and/or psychopathy are completely unredeemable. They wish not to improve their lives nor to ask the questions that so desperately need to be asked. I will always be antisocial to an extent, but I am learning that I must control, to the best of my ability, my actions in order to remain free and prosperous. If I exist, then others like me must exist. That is, there has to be a subset of those antisocials that wish to remain in the good graces of society through restraint. Such does not mean abandoning the wiring that contributes to their identity, but it does mean becoming smarter and more calculated regarding the actions that are carried through.
The stigma of our condition, propagated by those that wish to see our heads on pikes, makes it unnecessarily difficult for those like me to make progress. Where would I be now if I had spoken to my psychotherapist earlier regarding this aspect of my mind? Where could I be if those like me could speak openly? I hope to see a day, either that I make or that society finally gives me, where I can truly be open and authentic regarding my condition. I want badly a discourse where all parties are invited rather than only those that are seen as acceptable members at the table. I want crimes to be punished, not conditions.
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