Personality Disorders: Symptoms and Treatment

Personality disorders are characterized by inflexible and unhealthy patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. These patterns often deviate from what is expected according to the culture of the country where the person lives. Those people who have these disorders usually have difficulties when interacting with other people and when carrying out activities of their daily lives. They generally think that their way of thinking and acting is completely normal. However, they tend to see the world very differently than others. Due to the above, the person sees several areas of their life altered: social, educational/professional and family. The most important aspect of treating a personality disorder is recognizing that a problem exists. As we said, people with these types of disorders believe that their personality traits are normal, so they may feel upset when someone suggests that they have a personality disorder. In this PsychologyFor article, we will talk about Personality disorders: symptoms and treatment.

Types of personality disorder

There are numerous types of personality disorders. They are grouped into three clusters based on their characteristics and symptoms. There are people who may have symptoms of multiple personality disorders.

Eccentric disorders

• Paranoid personality disorder: It is characterized by suspicion and distrust of others and their purposes. Additionally, they tend to be spiteful.
• Schizoid personality disorder: People with this disorder show little interest in establishing new personal relationships or participating in social interactions. They don’t usually understand social rules or cues, so they can come across as cold.
• Schizotypal personality disorder: People with schizotypal disorder tend to think that they can influence other people with their thoughts or make certain things happen. They often misunderstand other people’s behavior and respond emotionally in inappropriate ways. They may constantly try to avoid intimate relationships.

Dramatic disorders

• Antisocial personality disorder: It is characterized by a tendency to manipulate and treat others unfairly without expressing any remorse. They may lie, steal, or abuse alcohol or drugs.
• borderline personality disorder: People with this disorder often feel empty, abandoned, etc. They may have difficulty coping with stressful events and episodes of paranoia. Also, they often carry out acts impulsively without taking the risk into account, such as unsafe sex, gambling, etc. If you feel identified, you can take the borderline personality disorder test.
• Histrionic personality disorder: A person with this disorder tries to gain attention in a provocative way, whether sexually or dramatically, they are easily influenced by other people and extremely sensitive to criticism and disapproval.
• Narcissistic personality disorder: These people believe that they are more important than others. They tend to exaggerate their achievements, brag about their physical attractiveness or successes, and have a deep need for admiration, but a lack of empathy toward others.

Anxious disorders

• Avoidant personality disorder: People with this disorder often experience feelings of inadequacy, inferiority, or unattractiveness. They tend to become obsessed with criticism and avoid establishing new social relationships or activities.
• Dependent personality disorder: It is characterized by people who are very dependent on others who cover their physical and emotional needs. They tend to avoid being alone, need support when making decisions, and seem to tolerate verbal or physical abuse.
• Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder: They have a great need for order and strictly follow the rules. They feel extremely uncomfortable when they fall short of perfection, and may fail in their personal relationships by focusing on completing other projects perfectly.

Diagnosis of personality disorder

For diagnose a personality disorderIn addition to knowing the symptoms that occur to determine the type of personality disorder, these symptoms (behaviors, feelings…) must occur in different circumstances in the person’s life and cause a significant alteration in at least two of the following areas :

• The way a person perceives or interprets themselves and other people.
• The way the person relates to others.
• The appropriateness of the person’s emotional responses.
• Impulse control.

Treatment of personality disorder

Treatment depends on the type and severity of the personality disorder. It may include psychotherapy and medication in combination.

Psychotherapy

In psychotherapy, the person can talk about their feelings and thoughts and acquire strategies in therapy to manage the symptoms and behaviors that interfere with their daily life.

There are many different types of psychotherapy. Some of those used are:

• The cognitive-behavioral therapy: It is about teaching the person how to change negative thought patterns so that they can face the challenges that arise.
• The dialectical therapy It can be done in a group or individually, it focuses on the person learning to tolerate stress and improve their relationships.

Medication

There are psychotropic drugs that can help reduce some symptoms of personality disorder:

• Antidepressants: They can improve depressed mood, impulsivity or anger.
• Stabilizers of the mood: reduce irritability, aggressiveness and mood changes.
• Antipsychotics: They can be beneficial for those people who lose touch with reality
• Anxiolytics to reduce anxiety, agitation and insomnia.

This article is merely informative, at PsychologyFor we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to Personality disorders: symptoms and treatment we recommend that you enter our Clinical Psychology category.