Personality Disorders

What is a personality disorder?

A personality disorder is a mental health condition that involves long-term and pervasive disruptive patterns in thinking, behavior, mood, and communication with others. These patterns cause the person significant distress and/or impair their ability to function.

There are 10 types of the personality disorders, each with different characteristics and symptoms

Personality is the vital to defining who we are as individuals. It involves a unique combination of traits – including attitudes, thoughts, and behaviors – as well as how these traits are expressed in our interactions with others and with the world around us.

Personality disorders may cause distorted perceptions of the reality, abnormal behaviors, and distress across various aspects of life, including work, relationships, and social functioning. In addition, people with a personality disorder may not recognize their own worrying behaviors or the negative impact they have on others.

What are the types of personality disorders?

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), the standard reference publication for recognized mental illnesses, organizes the ten types of personality disorders into three main groups (categories). Each group has different symptoms in common.

Group a personality disorders

Cluster A personality disorders include unusual, eccentric thinking or behavior. These include:

Paranoid Personality Disorder: The main feature of this condition is paranoia, which is distrust and suspicion of others without sufficient reason to be suspicious. People with the paranoid personality disorder often believe that others are trying to degrade, harm or threaten them.

Schizoid personality disorder personality disorder: This condition is characterized by a persistent pattern of detachment and general disinterest in interpersonal relationships. People with schizotypal personality disorder have a limited set of emotions when interacting with others.

Schizotypal personality disorder: People with this condition show a consistent pattern of intense dysphoria and a limited need for close relationships. Relationships may be disrupted by their distorted views of reality, superstitions, and unusual behavior.

Group B personality disorders

Group B personality disorders include dramatic and erratic behaviors. People with these types of conditions show intense, unstable emotions and impulsive behaviors. Group B personality disorders include:

Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD): People with antisocial personality disorder show a lack of respect for others and do not follow socially accepted rules or norms. People with antisocial personality disorder may break the law or cause physical or emotional harm to others around them. They may refuse to take responsibility for their behavior and/or ignore the negative consequences of their actions.

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD): This condition is characterized by difficulty in emotional regulation, resulting in low self-esteem, mood swings, impulsive behaviors, and subsequent relationship difficulties.

Histrionic personality disorder: This condition is characterized by intense and unstable feelings and a distorted self-image. For people with the histrionic personality disorder, their self esteem depends on the approval of others and does not come from a true sense of self-worth. They have an overwhelming desire to be noticed, and may display dramatic and/or inappropriate behaviors to get attention.

Narcissistic Personality Disorder: This condition involves a persistent pattern of perceived superiority and grandiosity, an excessive need for praise and admiration, and a lack of empathy for others. These thoughts and behaviors often stem from low self-esteem and low self-confidence.

Cluster personality disorders

Group C personality disorders include intense anxiety and fear. They include:

Avoidant Personality Disorder: People with this condition have a chronic sense of inadequacy and are extremely sensitive to negative judgment by others. Although they like to interact with others, they tend to avoid social interaction due to an intense fear of being rejected.

Dependent Personality Disorder: This condition is characterized by a persistent and excessive need for another person’s care. It also implies submission, the need for constant reassurance, and the inability to make decisions. People with dependent personality disorder often become very close to another person and go to great lengths to try to please that person. They tend to show passive and clingy behavior and have a fear of separation.

Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD): This condition is characterized by a persistent and extreme need for the order, perfection, and control (with no room for flexibility) that eventually slows or interferes with the completion of a task. It can also interfere with relationships.

How is personality disorders treated?

Personality disorders are among the most difficult to treat disorders in psychiatry. This is mainly because people with personality disorders do not believe their behavior is a problem, so they often do not seek treatment.

And even if a person with a personality disorder does seek treatment, modern medicine still lacks available treatment options—there are no medications currently approved to treat any personality disorder. But there are medications that can help treat symptoms of anxiety and depression, which are common in people with personality disorder.

But the psychotherapy (talk therapy) can help manage personality disorders. Psychotherapy is a term for a variety of the treatment techniques that aim to help you identify and change disturbing feelings, thoughts and behaviors. Working with a mental health professional, such as a psychologist or psychiatrist, can provide support, education, and guidance for you and your family.

The main goals of psychotherapy for personality disorders include:

• Minimizing immediate distress, such as anxiety and depression.
• Helping a person understand that their problems are internal and not caused by other people or situations.
• Reducing unhealthy and socially undesirable behaviors.
• Modify the personality traits that cause difficulties.