Personality Disorder-a silent parasite

 

Introduction

Personality Disorder-I am sure most of you have heard this term. Its pretty popular in the media circuits nowadays. Today we are going to find out what is meant by this term, what are the symptoms, possible causes and what can be the possible ways to counter this problem. Many of us, or our closed ones might be affected mildly or severely by this problem and you may not even realise it- so do stay tuned and listen till the end. Let’s get started.

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Introduction

Now, what is Personality disorder? It is a type of mental disorder in which the person has a rigid and unhealthy pattern of thinking, behaving and functioning. They have trouble perceiving and relating to situations and people. Personality disorders usually begin during the teenage years or early adulthood and cause significant problems in relationships, social activities, work and study life.

Types

There are many types of personality disorders. Personality disorder types are majorly grouped into three clusters-commonly named Cluster A, B and C. This grouping is based on similarity of characteristics and symptoms. However, the signs and symptoms overlap very often and also the presence of all the symptoms connected to a particular type need not be present for a positive diagnosis.

Cluster A Personality Disorders

Cluster A personality disorders are broadly characterized by odd, eccentric thinking or behaviour. They include Paranoid Personality Disorder, Schizoid Personality Disorder and Schizotypal Personality Disorder.

Paranoid Personality Disorder: It is basically characterized by paranoia or in a layman’s term a presence of an unfounded suspicion or fear. These people constantly suspect others, their motives, has unjustified beliefs that others are always trying to harm or deceive them. They also exhibit angry or hostile reactions to slights or insults that others might not even take seriously and have a tendency to hold long term grudges. These people are always reluctant to confide in others due to the unreasonable suspicion that the information may be used against them.

Schizoid Personality Disorder: This one is characterised by a lack of interest in social and personal relationships. Their emotional expressions are limited and they show an inability to pick up normal social cues. These people prefer to stay alone and exhibit a cold and indifferent behaviour in most cases, they are also unable to enjoy most activities including sexual activities.

Schizotypal Personality Disorder: This is the third class under this cluster. People suffering from Schizotypal Personality Disorder usually has peculiar beliefs, odd sense of dressing, speech and behaviour. They may also complain of hearing whispers or other odd perceptual experiences. Their emotional responses are usually inappropriate or outright flat. Social anxiety is very commonly associated with this type of disorder. While unfounded suspicion and indifference in attitude is also common these people also have a perception of “magical thinking”-that is, a belief that they can influence people or events with their thoughts. They also tend to believe that certain causal incidents or events contain hidden messages exclusively for them.

 

Cluster B Personality Disorders

Cluster B personality disorders are characterized by dramatic, overly emotional or unpredictable thinking or behaviour. They include Antisocial Personality Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Histrionic Personality Disorder and Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

Antisocial Personality Disorder:  Well as the name suggests these people do encounter frequent problems with the law of the land. Repeated violation of rights of other people and traits like aggressiveness, violent behaviour, persistent lying, stealing and using of aliases are commonly observed. These people usually are impulsive, irresponsible and have severe disregard for the welfare, needs and feelings of others. They even show lack of remorse for their behaviours.

Borderline Personality Disorder: In this case the person is highly impulsive and has a tendency to undertake risky behaviour-such as unsafe sex, gambling, binge eating etc. They suffer from a very unstable and fragile self-image and their relationships are usually very intense but unstable. Interpersonal stress often leads to severe mood swings and threats of self-injury and even suicide is common. These people also suffer from a feeling of emptiness and exhibit intense fear of being abandoned, Frequent and intense display of anger and recurrence of stress related paranoia is observed.

Histrionic Personality Disorder: In this type of PD the person seeks continuous attention through excessive display of emotions, dramatic behaviour or sexual provocations. While on one hand they are easily influenced by others on the other hand they speak very dramatically and puts up strong opinions with little or no facts to back it up. They are excessively concerned with their physical appearance and their emotions are usually shallow and rapidly changing. It has also been observed that these people consider relationships with other to be closer than they actually are.

Narcissistic Personality Disorder: Here, as the name suggests the person believes that he or she is special and more important than others. They fantasize about power, success and attractiveness. These people fail to recognise other’s feelings and are arrogant. They expect constant praise and appreciation, unexpected favours and often tries to take advantage of others. Exaggeration of their talents and achievements has also been generally observed. They usually envy others or believe that everybody around is jealous of them.

 

Cluster C personality disorders

Cluster C personality disorders are characterized by anxious, fearful thinking or corresponding behaviour. Sub-types under this cluster include Avoidant Personality Disorder, Dependent Personality Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder.

Avoidant Personality Disorder: In this case the person is too sensitive to criticism or rejection and has a feeling of inadequacy, inferiority or unattractiveness. An excessive fear of disapproval, embarrassment or ridicule is common. They usually avoid work activities that requires inter-personal communication or contacts and are generally socially inhibited, timid in nature, kind of isolated and tend to avoid new contacts or activities. Extreme shyness in social and personal relationships has been noted.

Dependent Personality Disorder: As the name indicates these people have an excessive dependence on others and have a constant need to be taken care of. They usually exhibit submissive or clingy behaviour. The thought of having to take care of themselves or being left to themselves is extremely fearful for them. They lack self-confidence and need excessive advice from others even for the smallest decisions. They tend to tolerate torture or abusive treatment even when other options are available. They find it difficult to stay focussed on any project due to lack of self-confidence and their fear of disapproval doesn’t allow them to disagree with others. An urgent and desperate need to start a new relationship on termination of one is observed frequently.   

Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder: It is characterised by a preoccupation with details, orderliness and rules. They seek extreme perfection which often result in dysfunction and distress when perfection cannot be achieved. They try to control people, tasks and situations and are unable to delegate work or responsibility when the need arises. Excessive commitment to work or a particular project often leads to neglect of friends, family or enjoyable activities in life. They are extremely rigid and stubborn and inflexible about their moral values and ethics. These people are usually miserly and exercise strict control over budgetary issues. They are also unable to discard worthless or broken objects. 

One must understand that Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder is not the same as Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), The latter being  a type of anxiety disorder and not a personality disorder.

Causes

Now, the most important question-what causes Personality Disorders? While the precise cause is yet to be determined they are thought to be caused by a combination of both genetic and environmental influences.

Your personality is the combination of thoughts, emotions and behaviours that makes you unique. It's the way you view, understand and relate to the outside world, as well as how you see yourself. Personality forms during childhood, and is shaped through an interaction of:

·         Your genes. Certain personality traits may be passed on to you by your parents through inherited genes. These traits are sometimes called your temperament.

·         Your environment. This involves the surroundings you grew up in, events that occurred, and relationships with family members and others.

Your genes may make you immune to or vulnerable to developing a personality disorder, and a life situation may trigger the actual development.

Certain factors like family history of Personality Disorders or other mental illnesses, abusive, unstable or chaotic family life especially during childhood and variations in brain chemistry and structures, seem to increase the risk of developing or triggering personality disorders.

 

Conclusion:

Personality disorders can significantly disrupt the lives of both the affected person and those who care about that person. It may cause problems with relationships, work or study, and can lead to social isolation or alcohol or drug abuse. Therefore it is extremely important to identify the symptoms and undergo proper therapy. If you have any signs or symptoms of a personality disorder, see your doctor or other primary care professional or a mental health professional. Untreated, personality disorders can cause significant problems in your life that may get worse without treatment. In most cases, the sufferer may not realize that he or she has a personality disorder because to that person this seems a natural way of thinking and behaving. They usually blame others for the challenges they face in their daily lives. This is also one of the major hindrances in helping such people out of this situation.

So do take care and feel free to get in touch for any query or assistance that I may be worthy of. Take care and stay safe-bbye.

Checkout all the videos of the mental health series and other videos here  

You can check out my Facebook Page here and my Instagram page here

You can also check out my list of books here.

Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube Channel-click here.