What is a personality disorder?

A personality disorder is a mental health issue that causes long-lasting and harmful patterns in how a person thinks, behaves, feels, and connects with others. These patterns can lead to significant distress and make it hard for someone to function in daily life.

There are 10 types of personality disorders, each with its characteristics and symptoms.

Personality is key to who we are as individuals. It is a mix of different traits, including our attitudes, thoughts, behaviors, and how we show these traits in our interactions with others and the world around us.

Personality disorders might bring distorted realities, abnormal behaviors, and distress in most aspects of life: at work, in relationships, or social function. Moreover, a person living with personality disorder fails to realize such troublesome behaviors, along with adverse effects for other people involved.

What are the various personality disorders?

There are many types of personality disorders. They fall under three clusters, each characterised by similar features and symptoms. Some people will manifest signs and symptoms of multiple personality disorders.

Cluster A: Suspicious

• Paranoid personality disorder: People with paranoid personality disorder do not trust others and doubt their motives.
• Schizoid personality disorder: People with schizoid personality disorder have little interest in forming personal relationships or engaging in social interactions. They may have difficulty understanding social cues, making them appear emotionally aloof.
• Schizotypal personality disorder: People with this disorder believe that they can influence others or even events through their thoughts. Inappropriate emotional responses come through a misinterpretation of the behavior. Due to the incorrect communication, they move away from intimate relationships.

Cluster B: Emotional and Impulsive

• Antisocial personality disorder: The people with antisocial personality disorder use or manipulate people with full unawareness about the issue. They steal, lie, and may even engage themselves with drugs and alcohol.
• Borderline personality disorder: Despite the support of friends or family, people with borderline personality disorder may feel empty and alone. They may have paranoia, have stress problems, and participate in dangerous activities such as gambling and drinking alcohol.
• Histrionic Personality Disorder: Individuals suffering from histrionic personality disorder often attempt to attract more attention by dramatic or provocative behaviors. Such individuals are also easily manipulated by others and are prone to criticism or disapproval.
• Narcissistic personality disorder: People with this disorder often think they are more important than others. They tend to brag about their achievements and their looks or success. They strongly need admiration but struggle to understand how other people feel.

Cluster C: Anxious

• Avoidant personality disorder: Individuals with avoidant personality disorder often feel inadequately functioning, inferior, or unattractive. They tend to ruminate on other people's criticisms and often avoid participating in new activities or developing new friendships.
• Dependent Personality Disorder: Individuals with the dependent personality disorder depend upon other people to meet their psychological and physical needs. The person usually avoids solitude and frequently requires assurance while making decisions. They could also be more prone to physical as well as verbal abuse.
• Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder: Individuals with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder have a pressing requirement for order. These people adhere strongly to the set rules and regulations and will feel extremely uncomfortable whenever perfection cannot be achieved. Some can even compromise personal relationships to see perfection in a project.

Who does a personality disorder afflict?

Anyone might have a personality disorder. However, different types of personality disorders influence people in various ways.

Most personality disorders start in the teenage years when people’s personalities continue to develop. As a result, almost everyone diagnosed with a personality disorder is over 18 years old. The main exception is antisocial personality disorder, which usually shows signs by age 11 in about 80 percent of cases.

Antisocial personality disorder mainly affects people who are assigned male at birth. On the other hand, most people assigned female at birth are dependent, marginalized, and suffer from histrionic personality disorders.

What are the causes of personality disorders?

Personality disorders are amongst the least understood mental health conditions. Researchers are still working to figure out what causes personality disorders.

The reason for personality disorders, so far, might include the following factors;

• Genetics: Researchers have discovered an abnormal gene that might contribute to obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. Researchers are also examining genetic connections to aggression, anxiety, and fear, all traits that can be components of personality disorders.
• Brain changes: Researchers have found slight differences in the brains of people with certain personality disorders. For example, studies on paranoid personality disorder show that the amygdala, the part of the brain that handles fear and threat responses, works differently. In a survey about schizotypal personality disorder, researchers found that the frontal lobe is smaller in these individuals.
• Childhood trauma: Some researchers found a connection between certain types of childhood traumas and personality disorders. Adults with borderline personality disorder, among others, had the most elevated rates of childhood sexual trauma. Adults with both borderline and antisocial personality disorders are also characterized by problems of intimacy and trust, which may be more or less connected to childhood maltreatment and trauma.
• Verbal abuse: According to research, adults who were verbally abused as children had three times the likelihood of developing borderline, narcissistic, obsessive-compulsive, or paranoid personality disorders.
• Cultural factors: Cultural factors may also contribute to the formation of personality disorders, and the varying rates in different countries can prove this. For instance, cases of antisocial personality disorders are relatively low in Taiwan, China, and Japan, but with much higher rates of cluster C personality disorders.

What are the symptoms of personality disorders?

Each of the 10 personality disorder types has its specific indicators and symptoms.

Generally speaking, personality disorders include the difficulties with:

• Identity and one's sense of self: These individuals suffering from this disorder generally do not have some clear or stable image of their self-concept and sometimes change it depending on the situation or companions. Their self-esteem is either unrealistically extraordinarily high or extremely low.
• Relationships: People with personality disorders often find it hard to build close and stable relationships. Their complex thoughts and behaviors contribute to this struggle. They may not show empathy or respect for others, feel emotionally distant, or depend too much on attention and care from others.

Another key sign of personality disorders is that many people who have one do not realize how their thoughts and behaviors are problematic.

How is a personality disorder diagnosed?

Doctors and mental health professionals use a book called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) to diagnose mental health conditions. Each personality disorder has specific criteria that a person must meet for a diagnosis.

To identify your possible personality disorder, a therapist or mental health specialist will ask you questions based on these criteria. You must display consistent actions and emotions across a variety of situations to be diagnosed.

These behaviors and feelings should also cause significant distress and problems in at least two of these areas:

• How you see or understand yourself and others
• How you respond to other people
• The appropriateness of your emotional reactions

What is the treatment for personality disorder?

Treatment for personality disorders depends on their type and severity. It may involve therapy and medications.

Psychotherapy, also known as talk therapy, can help manage personality disorders. In psychotherapy, you will work with a therapist to talk about your condition, feelings, and thoughts. This can help you understand how to manage your symptoms and behaviors that affect your daily life.

There are many different types of psychotherapy. Dialectic behavior therapy involves group and individual therapy, where people learn to tolerate stress and change relationships. Cognitive behavioral therapy teaches people to change from negative thinking and, through this, manage everyday occurrences.

Medication

For the treatment of personality disorders, there are currently no authorized drugs. But there are specific types of prescription drugs that can help with a reduction in many symptoms associated with personality disorders, such as:

• Antidepressants that may be used to improve depression, irritability, anger, or impulsivity
• Mood stabilizers, which prevent extreme mood shifts and lower irritability and aggression
• Antipsychotic medications, also known as neuroleptics, which can alleviate psychosis-like symptoms, such as hallucinations and delusions
• Anti-anxiety medications, which can help ease anxiety, agitation, and insomnia

Can personality disorders be prevented?

At this point, there is no known way to prevent personality disorders, but many of the associated problems may be minimized with treatment. Getting help as soon as symptoms emerge can help reduce the interference with the person's life, family, and friendships.

How do personality disorders occur from an attitude perspective?

Most people with personality disorders do not get appropriate medical care, the prognosis of personality disorders is generally poor.

Untreated personality disorders lead to:

• Poor relationship.
• The problem at work.
• Poor social functioning.

Research indicates that personality disorders are linked with high rates of:

• Unemployment.
• Divorce.
• Domestic violence.
• Substance abuse.
• Homelessness.
• Crime (incredibly antisocial personality disorder).

Personality disorders also increase the likelihood of ER visits, trauma-related accidents, and early suicides.

Although the prognosis is bleak, research indicates that combined care can significantly enhance results for sufferers of personality disorders if treated.

If you are familiar with someone who has a personality disorder, or worse, might suffer from this condition, do your part to encourage them to enter treatment; also, learn about the type of perso

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