Transcript Personality Disorders

What are PD’s?
 Think of: The core construction of a person’s world
 Experiences and Behaviors remarkably outside the norm
(for culture).
 Causes significant distress or impairment
 Starts in adolescence/early adulthood
 Pervasive across settings
 Not GMC or Substance
Incidence/Diagnosis
 10-15% of population
 Varies based on disorder. Some prevalence uncertain
 Diagnosed after the age of 18.
 Consider all other diagnoses
Cluster A: The Odd/Eccentric Ones
 Schizoid Personality Disorder
 Primary feature: detached from others and restricted emotions.
 Little desire for relationships, prefers solitary actions, may appear
indifferent/cold/aloof.
 Paranoid Personality Disorder
 Primary feature: Distrust, suspiciousness about other’s motives.
 Believes they are being exploited, reads hidden meaning, reacts
quickly w/anger
 Schizotypal Personality Disorder
 Think Schizoid and then some
 Decreased desire for relationships AND eccentricity. “Magical
thinking,” ideas of reference, suspiciousness,
 Sometimes seen as pre-morbid to Psychotic Disorders
Cluster B: The Dramatic, Emotional,
or Erratic Ones
 Antisocial Personality Disorder
 Primary feature: complete disregard for others/rules (think:
the sociopaths)
 Includes violence, law violations, lying/cheating, lack of
remorse. May appear as very charming or cocky and hostile.
 The one disorder where symptoms must be present by the age
of 15 (still cannot diagnose until 18).
 Borderline Personality Disorder
 Primary feature: Unstable relationships, self-image, and
affect. Impulsivity. This stems from an unstable “sense of self”
 Make frantic efforts to about being abandoned, very reactive
in mood, idealization/devaluation, feelings of emptiness,
frequent suicide attempts/cutting episodes.
Cluster B Continued
 Narcissistic Personality Disorder
 Primary feature: Grandiosity, need for admiration, lack of
empathy. (stems from fragile ego)
 Feel entitled, exaggerate talents, believes he/she is special,
exploitive, envious of others (believes opposite), arrogant
 Histrionic Personality Disorder
 Primary feature: Excessive emotionality and attention seeking
behavior (think: the drama queen)
 These people want to be the center of attention at all costs.
Feel uncomfortable when they are not (use sexuality, speech,
theatrics, etc).
Cluster C: Anxious or Fearful Ones
 Avoidant Personality Disorder
 Primary feature: Pervasive social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy,
and hypersensitivity to negative evaluations
 Preoccupied with fears of criticism, ridicule, etc that limits social
interaction.
 Dependent Personality Disorder
 Primary feature: Excessive need to be taken care of leading to
submissive, clinging behavior.
 Can’t make choices, needs complete guidance, fails to take
responsibility, lacks self-confidence in abilities.
 Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder
 Primary feature: Preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism,
and control (think: Anal retentive)
 Preoccupied with rules, perfection, work, etc to the point that tasks
aren’t completed. May be miserly and unwilling to share tasks with
others.
PD NOS
 Don’t meet criteria for a specific disorder, but distress
is apparent.
 The mixed personality
 A disorder not listed in DSM-IV-TR but is under
research
Causes/Treatment
 Contention
 Genetics vs. environmental factors.
 Research is not consistent
 Psychoanalytic theory prevalent
 Challenging to treat
 Long term
 Some “resolve” on own
 Personality testing is beneficial