Personality Disorders

1
Personality Disorders
2
Defined as

• Enduring patterns of perceiving, relating to, and
  thinking about the environment and oneself that
  are exhibited in a wide range of social and
  personal contexts.
• Such patterns are also inflexible and
  maladaptive, and cause either significant
  functional impairment or subjective distress.

3
Basics

• Chronic
• Onset childhood
• High rate of comorbidity with other disorders
• Prevelence .5 to 2.5 of population

4
Three Groupings

• Cluster A Odd or Eccentric
• paranoid
• Cluster B dramatic, emotional or erratic
• Antisocial, histrionic and narcissistic
• Cluster C Anxious or fearful
• Obsessive-compulsive

5
Paranoid Personality-- Symptoms

• Excessively mistrustful and suspicious of others.
• May be argumentative, voice frequent complaints,
  reluctance to confide in others, read hidden
  meanings into others actions.
• Hostility

6
Paranoid Personality Causes Treatment

• Biologicalnot enough conclusive research
• Psychological pessimist
• Social may appear in certain groups such as
  prisoners, refugees, people with hearing
  impairments, elderly.
• Treatment CBT to develop trust in others.

7
Antisocial Personality Disorder-- Symptoms

• Long histories of failing to comply with social
  norms, violating rights of others, unacceptable
  behavior.
• Irresponsible impulsive and deceitful
• Lack conscience or empathy selfish
• Show no regret or remorse.

8

• Biological
• Twins studies suggest a genetic influence
• Underarousal hypothesis abnormrlly low levels of
  brain activity the behavior helps stimulate
  brain activity to acceptable levels.
• Cortical Immaturity Hypothesiscerebral cortex is
  at an immature stage of development
• Fearlessness hypothesis have a higher threshold
  for fear and have difficulty associating cues
  with impending punishment or danger.

9
Antisocial Personality Causes Treatment

• Psychological/Social
• Less likely to be deterred from reaching a goal,
  despite not being able to attain it.
• Inconsistent parental discipline, trust issues
  within the family
• Community of neighborhood

10
Antisocial Personality Causes Treatment

• Treatment
• Few people actually seek treatment incarceration
  is usually the best alternative
• Children and young adults can sometimes be
  effectively treated with behavioral therapy and
  family intervention.

11
Histrionic Personality-- Symptoms

• Overly dramatic
• Express emotions in an exaggerated fashion
• Vain/self-centered
• May dress /behave seductively
• Need constant approval
• impulsive

12
Histrionic PersonalityCauses and Symptoms

• Causes may be the female version of anti-social
  disorder with similar causes dont really know
• Treatment Behavioral therapy for attention
  seeking behaviors

13
Narcissistic Personality-- Symptoms

• Exaggerated or unreasonable sense of
  self-importance
• Preoccupied with receiving attention to point of
  no sensitivity/compassion for others.
• Delusions of grandeur
• Exploitation of others for personal gain.
• Envious and arrogant

14
Narcissistic Personality Causes and Treatment

• Linked to early failure in childhood to learn how
  to show empathy
• Treatment therapy centered around negative
  personality traits

15
Obsessive-Compulsive Personality
Disorder--Symptoms

• Fixation on things being done the right way
• Work oriented
• Poor interpersonal skills
• Common among gifted children

16
Obsessive-Compulsive Personality DisorderCauses
and Treatment

• Biological weak genetic influence
• No other known causes
• Treatment limited therapy target fears than
  underlie the need for orderliness and stress
  relief exercises.

17
Personality Disorders under Study

• Sadistic personality disorder
• Self-Defeating Personality Disorder
• Depressive personality disorder
• Negativistic personality disorder