Masochistic Personality Disorder: Symptoms, Causes And Treatment

Self-denial and self-sacrifice in order to help others are aspects that are valued positively by society when they are based on a desire to help someone at a specific moment. However, there are people who always put needs other than their own first and who even go so far as to deny their own or the possibility of experience pleasure or joy by and for themselves

We are not talking about someone generous who does us a favor, but rather someone who literally dedicates themselves to meeting the needs of others even without them asking for it or considering it necessary. People who deny any kind of recognition, but who at the same time feel deeply offended if their efforts are ignored. People with constantly dysphoric emotionality, with thoughts of not deserving anything positive and great insecurity and fear.

We are talking about people with a dysfunctional personality, which does not allow them to adapt correctly to the environment and causes them great suffering. We are talking about what they live people with a masochistic or self-destructive personality disorder

Masochistic or self-destructive personality disorder

A self-destructive or masochistic personality disorder is considered to be that type of personality characterized by the presence of a pattern of behavior and vision of the world that is relatively stable over time and through the situations in which they constantly appear. elements of self-destructive and self-denial

People with this type of personality are characterized by presenting self-deprecating behavior that seeks pain and suffering, visible in the search for environments that tend to lead to the presence of frustration or even to the search for abuse or humiliation (it is not unusual that they tend to consider those people who are attracted to them boring and feel attracted to sadistic personalities) , the denial of one’s own needs and avoidance of seeking pleasure and fun. There tends to be a rejection of those people who treat you well, and you deny the possibility of being helped.

It is likely that after positive experiences they actively seek to experience aversive experiences or become depressed. These are people who display excessively selfless and generous behavior towards others, often sacrificing themselves despite it not being necessary or required. In addition to that, tends to fail in meeting its own goals They tend to accumulate situations of frustration and self-harm.

People with this type of personality tend to see others either as beings in need of help or as competitive and cruel beings, while they see themselves as despicable beings, deserving of pain or simply useless. They tend to seek routine and consider that their achievements are due more to luck or external intervention.

These are people with a high vulnerability to humiliation, great insecurity and fear of abandonment They do not usually ask for favors or make great efforts to achieve their own goals, having a rather passive attitude and seeking gratification in self-denial and benefiting others. They tend to remain in the background and allow abuse towards them, having a distressed profile and giving the appearance of simplicity. They often present cognitive distortions, consider themselves inferior and believe that they have a duty to help others and never prioritize themselves. Likewise, helping others makes them see themselves as necessary.

It is necessary to keep in mind that this disorder does not arise solely from the experience or fear of experiencing some type of abuse, nor does it occur exclusively during the presence of an episode of major depression.

Affectation at a vital level

Obviously, the above characteristics cause these people to present a series of significant difficulties in their daily lives, which can lead to a high level of suffering. It is not uncommon for them to experience high levels of frustration something that in turn feeds back into their beliefs of being unworthy.

In their relationships, they have a tendency to receive abuse and mistreatment, with behaviors of absolute submission frequently appearing. This is also reflected in other relationships: many people can take advantage of them, while many others will tend to distance themselves from them due to their excessive generosity and submission. Those people who treat them well or tend to want to help them may encounter rejection from these people.

And not only socially, but also at work, problems can be encountered: they are likely to carry out long hours of work with the purpose of benefiting others. Likewise, this can decrease your own productivity. Their lack of confidence can limit their possibilities for improvement in all areas, as well as behavioral passivity when it comes to seeking their own well-being.

Possible causes

The reason for the causes of this type of personality is unknown, in reality it has a multi-causal origin. Although the causes are not entirely clear, some of the hypotheses in this regard reveal the influence of childhood experiences and learning throughout life.

The main hypotheses in this regard come mainly from a psychoanalytic perspective. Among the different factors that seem to influence the appearance of this personality disorder is the confusion and integration in the same subject of the experience of punishments, pain and suffering along with the feeling of protection and security. It is also possible that he has learned that the only way to achieve affection is in moments of personal suffering (something that in the future will cause him to devalue himself as a mechanism to achieve said affection).

The presence of deficient parental models (absent and cold parents, irritated and with a high level of vital frustration) that the child will later replicate as a way of functioning and seeing the world is also proposed as a hypothesis. Another element that is talked about is the lack of ability to integrate positive elements, leading to people feeling safe while feeling despised and miserable.

Treatment of this personality disorder The treatment of a personality disorder (whether this or another) is complex. At the end of the day, we are dealing with a way of proceeding and seeing the world that has been shaped throughout a person’s life. Despite this, it is not impossible.

In the case at hand and based on Millon’s model, the treatment would seek to reverse the pleasure-pain polarity (a person with this personality disorder tends to have a certain discordance obtaining pleasure from pain and vice versa) and strengthen the search for gratifications in themselves (reducing dependence on others). It would also seek to generate a change in beliefs towards oneself and modify negative and devaluing beliefs towards oneself and the need to consent to constant and excessive abuse and self-sacrifice. The aim would be to modify the belief that they deserve to suffer or that their life has no value in itself and only has value if they help others, as well as the rest of the cognitive distortions that they usually present.

would also try to stop seeing others as needing help or hostile entities and generate behavioral modifications in such a way that they stop seeking dependency relationships. Also alter the way of relating to others and the world, as well as promoting a more active and less querulous vital positioning. Improving self-esteem and reducing the level of vital inhibition are also elements that can help these people adopt a more adaptive way of seeing the world.

To achieve this, the use of techniques such as cognitive restructuring, behavioral experiments, the use of expressive techniques or psychodrama would be useful. Training in social skills It can also be useful in learning to relate positively. The use of animal-assisted therapy could also be helpful, as well as assertiveness training. Likewise, behavioral activation may be very necessary to help them acquire a more vitally active position.

Current situation of the diagnostic label

As with sadistic personality disorder, masochistic personality disorder was contemplated in the revision of the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or DSM-III-R.

However, both diagnostic labels were removed in later editions, becoming part of the classification of personality disorder not otherwise specified. Talking about Millon, whose biopsychosocial model is one of the most recognized when it comes to personality disorders this continues to be maintained as a personality disorder in the MCMI-III.