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All About Personality Disorders


by Sunayana Sibal

Remedial for missed quiz 10


The term “personality disorders” may be used to refer to significantly distressing thought, affective and behavioral patterns that are consistent across situations, persistent and relatively enduring. Personality disorders are generally long term, with onset during childhood and presence during adulthood. Personality disorders are also extremely pervasive, affecting multiple facets of the individual’s life. Although some individuals with personality disorders such as obsessive-compulsive personality disorder may experience distress, many individuals who have personality disorders may not experience distress in a subjective manner. Rather, their friends, family or members of their society may experience distress due to the behavior of these individuals. 1/10th of the adult population in the United States of America suffers from a diagnosable personality disorder, which points towards the prevalence of these disorders.

The comorbidity for personality disorders is very prevalent, due to which there is considerable difficulty in clear cut categorization of personality disorders. Yet, at present 10 personality disorders have been classified into three clusters called Cluster A, Cluster B and Cluster C personality disorders respectively.

Cluster A Personality Disorders or Odd/Eccentric Personality Disorders consists of Paranoid, Schizoid and Schizotypal Personality Disorder. People suffering from Paranoid Personality Disorder consider other people with extreme suspicion and anticipate being harmed by others even if they have no reason to do so. People suffering from Paranoid Personality Disorder are very unlikely to receive treatment, since they have a hard time trusting other people and hence may not reach out for help. It is generally the appearance of a crisis in their lives, that drives them to seek help. People suffering from Schizoid Personality Disorder elude inter-personal relationships and are able to express a restricted range of emotions. They seem distant and/or detached to other people. Such people often have a history of childhood abuse and/or neglect and social skills training is considered an important part of their treatment. People suffering from Schizotypal Personality Disorder are aloof in social circumstances and display normatively deviant behavior. Like people with Paranoid Personality Disorder, people with Schizotypal Personality Disorder also tend to be suspicious but their suspicion is not limited to people. Rather, this suspicion extends to the world at large and is accompanied by unusual opinions about the world.

Cluster B Personality Disorders or Dramatic/Emotional/Erratic Disorders consist of Antisocial Personality Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Histrionic Personality Disorder and Narcissistic Personality Disorder. An extreme and distressing non-compliance of various norms that society upholds in general is characteristic of Antisocial Personality Disorder. Most people in society would not find the behavior of people with Antisocial Personality Disorder acceptable, for example: stealing or shoplifting. Rather, the behavior of people with Antisocial Personality Disorder is seen by society as large as driven by impulsivity and reckless. People with Borderline Personality Disorder experience instability in their moods and/or relationships accompanied by low self-esteem. They often experience emptiness/numbness and are at an alarmingly high risk for suicide. People who suffer from Histrionic Personality Disorder have very exaggerated patterns of behavior, to the extent that at times it may seem like they are acting. Narcissistic Personality Disorder is characterized by an overly high self-esteem and often low empathy. They believe they are special and worthy of special treatment.

Cluster C Personality Disorders or Anxious/Fearful Personality Disorders consists of Avoidant Personality Disorder, Dependent Personality Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder. People suffering from Avoidant Personality Disorder are extremely affected by the views of others. As a result, they steer away from interpersonal relationships and social encounters. They also have very low self-esteem and a strong fear of rejection. Dependent Personality Disorder is characterized by an extreme reliance on other people in everyday decision making and consequently developing a fear of abandonment. People who suffer from Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder tend to be highly focused on things being done in a particular way, to the extent that it becomes unhealthy. Their extreme focus on certain elements hinders their ability to function in their daily lives.

One interesting factor that affects the prognosis for people with personality disorders is countertransference, i.e., the therapist’s feelings with regard to the client. These feelings are generally negative in the case of therapists whose clients have personality disorders.

Treatment for people with personality disorders can be particularly challenging since those who are suffering from personality disorders do not generally see their challenges as a consequence of the manner in which they identify with others. Further, personality disorders may also hinder the treatment of specific parts of other mental health disorders or symptoms such as substance abuse. What makes matter worse is that the concurrent occurrence of multiple personality disorders is linked to positively correlated with poor treatment outcomes.




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