Tips on how to write characters with ASPD from someone that has ASPD.
-IMPORTANT NOTE: I am not a medical professional, nor is this a way of diagnosing yourself. If you may think you have ASPD, do your research and ideally speak with a professional before making a decision.
-👏antisocial👏doesn’t👏just👏mean👏they👏don’t👏talk👏alot👏. I personally am a very talkative person, but that doesn’t mark me as not being antisocial. Have a chatty character that has ASPD. It’s not an impossible scenario.
-Antisocial people generally tend to be more irritable than the average person. They’re also more prone to toxic behaviours like manipulation, guilt tripping, etc. Play around a bit. Make your character lean toward the toxic personality, but not completely. Make them snap at things that are so relatively simple to the average person. (Personally, I’m not a big fan of repeating myself, and it makes me quite annoyed or even angry to some level when i have to do so.)
-Most of the time, they don’t understand right from wrong, and may even have their own perspective of right and wrong. The character may do things that are considered morally wrong, and not understand when being told they can’t do that or that it’s not “normal”. Murder? Excusable to them, maybe not to Stephanie over there. Some even struggle to accept when they’re wrong. They’ll spit out false facts, they may victimise themselves to make the other feel bad, they might come up with excuses that really son’t make sense in the heat of the moment.
-They also may not be able to understand other people’s emotions, they may misunderstand tones, or just generally not know when enough is enough. This is an extremely important detail. If you’re going to write a character with ASPD, do not make them naturally empathetic and/or sympathetic. They can be empathetic/sympathetic, but for them, it has to be a learnt quality, it doesn’t come naturally. Have an emotionally awkward character. Have a character that finds it hard to sympathise when someone’s upset, and may not know how to comfort them.
-People with ASPD aren’t born with ASPD. It’s usually brought on in a high trauma circumstance, much like DID/MPD. ASPD occurs when someone reaches a breaking point. Throw the character around. Give them trauma. Make them hurt. Write how they slowly descend into madness. Write how they cling to that last “normal” thought, hoping that maybe it’s just a phase, and it’ll go away. Write the moment they realise that they’re not the same as others. Write the moment they learn to accept this and adjust to this, or the moment they can’t accept the truth and it drives them mad.
-PEOPLE WITH ASPD AND OTHER PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS DO NOT HAVE TO BE THE VILLAIN BY DEFAULT!! Plenty of people with ASPD are really nice and try their best to be good. You can have a hero with ASPD. (Hell, only 3% of people with ASPD are “psychopaths”.) If tended to correctly, people with ASPD can still live relatively normal lives. That being said, that doesn’t mean you can’t write dark, mysterious characters. They can still be morally off, or not quite think the same as others. Just keep this fact in mind when writing your character.
-Some, not all, people with ASPD can be extremely emotionally vulnerable and sensitive. They can be over apologetic. They may mistake what’s a general statement as scolding or lecturing. It all boils down to where they come from and how they were treated by those around them. Were they yelled at a lot as a kid? They’re gonna be sensitive to criticism, raised voices, and loud noises. Did they grow up in an unstable environment? They may be avoidant of places that remind them of said environment, or places that give off a certain feeling to them that reminds them of said environment.
-People with ASPD aren’t always “emo” and moody, or dark and scary. They can be confident and outgoing, or smart and understanding. They can be soft and clingy. Write an ASPD character that loves plushies and fluffy clothes and soft hoodies. Write an ASPD character who’s eyes light up when someone mentions a topic they’re absolutely fascinated with. Write an ASPD character that performs plays and was in the drama/theatre club as a kid.
-At the end of the day, ASPD comes on differently with everybody. Sure, you can still write the dark, brooding, evil character, but that’s not what all antisocial people are like. Just because they have ASPD doesn’t mean you should look at them in a different light than the rest of your characters.
AGAIN, NOTE THIS: I am not a professional. Most of this comes from my experiences with ASPD and such. Do not take my advice word for word into real every day life. These are simply character design tips, not official symptoms, personality types, etc. I’ve done my research along with my feelings, but that doesn’t mean everything I say is right. Keep this in mind.
On another note, I hope this helped somewhat! Happy writing :D
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