Personality Disorders

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Personality Disorders

• Kandise G. Viar
• Senior Seminar
• March 18, 2008

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Personality Disorders

• Defined as long-standing, pervasive, and
  inflexible patterns of behavior and inner
  experience that deviate from the expectations of
  a persons culture and that impair social and
  occupational functioning.

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Personality Disorders

• Personality disorders are grouped into three
  clusters in the DSM-IV-TR
• Individuals in cluster A (paranoid, schizoid, and
  schizotypal) are odd or eccentric.
• Individuals in cluster B (antisocial, borderline,
  histrionic, and narcissistic) are dramatic,
  emotional, or erratic.
• Individuals in cluster C (avoidant, dependent,
  and obsessive-compulsive) are anxious or fearful.
• The validity of these clusters is mixed and
  controversial.

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Cluster A Odd/Eccentric Cluster

• Paranoid Personality Disorder
• Schizoid Personality Disorder
• Schizotypal Personality Disorder

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Paranoid Personality Disorder

• Suspicious of others
• Expect to be mistreated or exploited by others
• Secretive
• Lookout for signs of trickery or abuse
• Hostile
• React angrily to insults
• Reluctant to confide in others
• Blame others and hold grudges even when they are
  at fault
• Jealous
• Question those they are close to
• Major trust issues
• Occurs most frequently in men

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Schizoid Personality Disorder

• Do not desire or enjoy social relationships
• Appear dull, bland, and aloof
• No warm tender feelings for others
• Rarely report strong emotions
• Experience few pleasurable experiences
• Indifferent to praise, criticism, and sentiment
  of others
• Often loners or pursue solitary interests
• Slightly less common among women than among men

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Schizotypal Personality Disorder

• Attenuated form of schizophrenia
• Odd beliefs or magical thinking
  (superstitiousness)
• May believe they are clairvoyant an telepathic
• Recurrent illusions
• Eccentric
• May talk to themselves
• Affect appears to be constricted and flat
• Odd behavior or appearance
• Paranoia
• Extreme discomfort and sometimes extreme anxiety
  around other people
• Comorbid with other personality disorders
  borderline personality disorder, narcissistic
  personality disorder, avoidant personality
  disorder, paranoid personality disorder, and
  schizoid personality disorder.

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Cluster B Dramatic/Erratic Cluster

• Borderline Personality Disorder
• Histrionic Personality Disorder
• Narcissistic Personality Disorder
• Antisocial Personality Disorder

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Borderline Personality Disorder

• Impulsivity and instability in relationships and
  behavior as well as mood
• Emotions are erratic and can shift abruptly
• Argumentative, irritable, sarcastic, quick to
  take offense, and altogether hard to live with
• No clear and coherent sense of self
• Cannot bear to be alone, have fears of
  abandonment, and demand attention
• Depression
• Paranoid thinking and disassociative symptoms
  triggered by stress
• High in neuroticism

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Histrionic Personality Disorder

• Overly dramatic and attention seeking
• Often use features physical features to draw
  attention to themselves
• Overly concerned with appearance
• i.e. clothes, make-up, etc.
• Emotionally extravagant but are thought to be
  emotionally shallow
• Self-centered
• Uncomfortable when he or she is not the center of
  attention
• Can be inappropriately sexually provocative
• Easily influenced by others
• It has been suggested that family life and taboos
  against sexual behavior may have an influence on
  this disorder.

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Narcissistic Personality Disorder

• Grandiose view of ones own uniqueness and skills
• Preoccupied with fantasies of great success
• Require constant attention and admiration
• Extremely sensitive to criticism and afraid of
  failure
• Personal relationships are few and shallow
• In all actuality these people think very little
  of themselves and are constantly trying to
  overcompensate for their perceived shortcomings.
• Most often co-occurs with borderline personality
  disorder.

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Antisocial Personality Disorder

• Two major components
• Conduct disorder before the age of fifteen.
• Continuation of this behavior in adulthood.
• Deceitfulness, lying
• Impulsivity
• Aggressiveness
• Irresponsibility
• Emotional detachment
• Lack of Remorse
• May exploit others
• Must be at least 18 to be diagnosed with APD.
• More men than women have APD.
• Disorder is more common among people with a lower
  SES.

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Cluster C Anxious/Fearful Cluster

• Avoidant Personality Disorder
• Dependent Personality Disorder
• Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder

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Avoidant Personality Disorder

• Very fearful of criticism, rejection or
  disapproval
• Reluctant to enter into relationships unless they
  are sure that they will be liked
• Very restrained in social situations
• Believe that they are incompetent and inferior
  compared to others
• May be depressed
• Comorbid with dependent personality disorder and
  borderline personality disorder.

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Dependent Personality Disorder

• Lack of self-confidence and a sense of autonomy
• View themselves as weak
• Intense need to be taken care of
• Uncomfortable when alone
• Extremely passive
• Occurs more frequently among women
• Comorbid with many other personality disorders.

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Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder

• Preoccupation with rules and details to the
  extent that the major point of the activity is
  lost
• Perfectionism
• Everything must be done their way
• Control freak
• Stubborn
• Difficulty discarding worthless items
• Most highly comorbid with avoidant personality
  disorder

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Causes

• Genetic components
• Environmental circumstances

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Therapies

• Psychoactive drugs
• Behavioral and cognitive therapies

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Reference

• Davidson, G.C., Neale, J.M., Kring, A.M. (2004).
  Abnormal psychology Ninth edition.
• Hoboken, NJ John Wiley and Sons, Inc.