Personality disorders are a group of conditions in which individuals display long-standing patterns of thinking, perceiving, feeling, and behaving that differ from what society considers normal.
Your way of acting and thinking, and your distorted beliefs about others, can cause strange behavior, which can be very annoying to other people.
These individuals They often have problems in different areas of life, including social and work functioning. and often have poor coping skills and difficulty forming healthy relationships. Personality disorders usually emerge in adolescence and continue into adulthood. They may be mild, moderate, or severe, and it is possible that these people may have periods of remission in which they function relatively well.
Although the causes are not entirely clear, personality disorders can be associated with genetic and environmental factors. Regarding the latter, experiences of anguish, stress or fear during childhood, as well as mistreatment, abuse or emotional neglect, can cause the future development of said disorders.
Types of Personality Disorders
The different personality types are grouped into three large groups or “clusters”.
Cluster A Personality Disorders
Cluster A personality disorders have to do with strange behavior patterns, foreign to desocialization codes and social conventions, and even denote a disconnection with reality and psychological alterations of a psychotic type.
1. Paranoid Personality Disorder
Paranoid personality disorder is characterized by a general distrust of others including friends and even family and partner. As a result, the person feels watched and under suspicion, and is constantly looking for clues that validate his conspiracy theories. This personality type is that of a person who is extremely sensitive to setbacks, and easily feels shame and humiliation. You tend to isolate yourself from others and destroy close relationships.
Schizoid personality disorder is characterized by the fact that individuals who suffer from this condition they isolate themselves and avoid social activities and interpersonal relationships. These individuals organize their lives in a way that avoids contact with other people. Therefore, they do not desire or enjoy close relationships, choose solitary jobs and activities, and show emotional coldness.
3. Schizotypal Disorder
He schizotypal disorder characterized by oddities in appearance, behavior, and speech; by unusual perceptual experiences, and anomalies in the way of thinking which resemble those observed in schizophrenia.
Schizotypals isolate themselves because they have inappropriate affect and social anxiety. They usually have magical thinking and are characterized by being superstitious. Sometimes they may believe that they have superpowers or that they have been victims of paranormal experiences or with extraterrestrials. They have problems relating to each other because of their coldness and because they seem distant.
Cluster B Personality Disorders
This group of peronality disorders are characterized by emotional instability and/or the histrionic and unpredictable component of the person’s behavior. They tend to generate serious difficulties when interacting with others, either due to emotional outbursts or the tendency to ignore social norms.
4. Antisocial Disorder
The person who suffers from this personality disorder called antisocial disorder does not take into account social norms and obligations, is aggressive, acts impulsively, lacks a feeling of guilt, and does not seem to learn from experience.
In many cases, he may have no difficulty relating to people, and may even seem superficially charming (hence the name ‘charming psychopath’). Now, their relationships usually don’t last long. This type of personality disorder is closely related to criminal behavior.
People with borderline personality disorder or borderline often se feel empty and abandoned, and may have difficulty coping with stressful events. They have a weak and changeable personality, and they doubt everything. They can go from moments of calm to moments of anger, anxiety or despair in just a few seconds. These people live their emotions to the fullest, and their love relationships are intense, because they idolize the other person.
The symptoms are characterized by intense anger and inability to control it, frantic efforts to avoid abandonment, real or imagined, alternating extremes of idealization and devaluation in interpersonal relationships, markedly unstable self-image, and chronic feelings of emptiness. At times these individuals may have episodes of paranoia, and tend to engage in risky behaviors, such as unprotected sex, excessive alcohol consumption, and gambling.
6. Histrionic Personality Disorder
People affected by histrionic personality disorder They have low self-esteem and seek the attention of other people dramatizing or playing a role, they are very emotionally sensitive in an attempt to be heard and seen. Therefore, these individuals pay excessive attention to taking care of their appearance and behave in an overly charming and seductive manner. They have a low tolerance for frustration and continually seek the approval of others.
Their life becomes a vicious circle that can take hold, because if they feel rejected, the more histrionic they become; and the more histrionic they become, the more rejected they feel.
7. Narcissistic Personality Disorder
People with narcissistic personality disorder They believe they are more important than others. They tend to exaggerate their achievements and may brag about their attractiveness or success constantly. They feel a deep need for admiration, but lack empathy for other people. In addition to their egocentric behavior, they are also characterized by being very spiteful people, and they tend to maintain attitudes of resentment and revenge towards others.
Finally, cluster C of personality disorders includes psychological alterations associated with fear, anxiety and avoidant tendencies. Those who develop a disorder of this type usually feel discomfort in situations that do not represent a real danger or risk, which also influences their way of establishing social interactions (often based on dependency).
8. Avoidant Personality Disorder
People with this type of disorder They often experience feelings of inferiority. They generally live dependent on the criticism of others and avoid participating in new activities or making new friends because they consider themselves socially inept and unattractive. They live in constant fear of being shamed or rejected.
This personality disorder is strongly associated with anxiety disorders, and may have its origins in rejection by parents or childhood peers.
9. Dependent Personality Disorder
In it dependent personality disorder individuals who suffer from this condition They depend on other people to meet their emotional and physical needs. They are unable to make decisions for themselves and generally avoid being alone, and may be prone to tolerating physical and verbal abuse.
10. Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder
People with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder tend to be very disciplined people, with a strong need for order, and adhere strongly to rules and regulations. They are characterized by being rigid, perfectionist, ruminating, moralistic, inflexible and indecisive. They feel very uncomfortable when they do not achieve perfection.
