Beware of the dark side

The dark side of a person is often the least revealed, warn psychiatrists in the city who claim that people with “hidden” anti-social disorders are often more dangerous than those with an evident violent streak. Even in the case of Shiney Ahuja, the fact that a reserved and soft spoken person like him could be accused of committing such a heinous act, came as a shocker for people who knew him personally. Experts say that nearly five per cent of the urban population suffers from this
condition which is now being termed as the “socialised anti-social personality disorder”.

This violent streak is well-masked and easily missed by people around a person suffering from it, says Dr Minhaz Nasirabadi, psychiatrist. “While a person suffering from antisocial personality disorder will display acts of violence from childhood, people with a socialised antisocial personality disorder will hide his/her violent streak cleverly. They seem very social and friendly. In reality, they are just good actors,” says Dr Minhaz, who adds that such people are more prone to committing acts of violence such as rape, murder or incest.
What’s worse, people with a hidden violent streak often come across as peaceful and quiet and no one will have an inkling of their motives. Psychiatrist, Dr Phani Prashant, says, “They tend to keep to themselves giving an illusion of a calm demeanour. They are often mistaken for being peace-loving family people. But they’ll never discuss what’s on their mind. They only tend to display sudden bursts of violence depending on the situation.”

Most perpetrators of incest cases are the ones that suffer from this “socialised antisocial disorder”, say doctors. “A 20-year-old girl with hyperventilation and anxiety disorders was brought to me. On probing, we discovered that she was being sexually exploited by a family friend. The revelation came as a huge shock for the family since they never suspected the friendly, quiet man of being capable of such an act,” says Dr Minhaz who adds that he has come across many such people in the recent past.
What’s worse, there is no way you can decode the signs to see through such people. Dr Mayurnath Reddy, psychiatrist with Yashoda Hospital, says, “Being good actors, they manage to hide their cruel streak in a way that no one can tell. Most often, drugs or alcohol influence unleash their antisocial streak and drives them to commit extreme acts of violence. Also, when a situation goes beyond their tolerance level, people who have such traits cannot handle it in a mature and sensible manner and give in to violence.”
Since a socialised antisocial trait is most often inborn, counselling is the only way to deal with such individuals, add experts.


http://www.deccanchronicle.com