Personality disorders

Personality disorders

Personality of an individual is all that possessed by him in terms of his physique, intellect and behavioural traits determining his unique adjustment to the self and the environment.

Personality is the totality of emotional and behavioural characteristics that are peculiar to a specific person and that remain somewhat stable and predictable over time.

Types of personality disorder

1.            Paranoid personality disorder:

2.            Individuals with this condition suffer from distrust and suspiciousness of others. They are oversensitive and trust no one.

3.            Schizoid personality disorder: These individuals display social withdrawal, have discomfort with human interaction, and are unsocial.

4.            Schizotypal personality disorder: Individuals have magical thinking, illusions, hallucination etc.

5.            Antisocial personality disorder: These individuals have a general disregard for law, socially irresponsible behaviours and violate the rights of others.

6.            Borderline personality disorder: These people will have fluctuating attitude, impulsive, self destructive behavior, and form chaotic relationships.

7.            Histrionic personality disorder: These people will have dramatic and extroverted behavior and are excitable, emotional people. They have a tendency to be self dramatizing, attention seeking, overly gregarious and seductive.

8.            Narcissistic personality disorder: They are overly self centered and exploiting others to fulfill their own desires. They view themselves as superior and they believe that they deserve to receive a special rights and privileges.

9.            Avoidant personality disorder: They have extreme shyness and fear orrejection and are uncomfortable in social situations.

10.        Dependent Personality disorder: They are dependent on others, allow others to decide for them, submissive, and also tolerate mistreatment by others.

11.        Obsessive-Compulsive personality disorder: They are very serious, formal and have difficulty expressing emotions. They are overly disciplined, perfectionist and preoccupied with rules.

12.        Passive-Aggressive personality disorder: They feel cheated and unappreciated. They believe that life has been unkind to them, and they express envy and resentment over the easy life that they perceive others having.

Causes of Personality disorders

·  Hereditary

·  Parental antagonism and harassment

·  Neurochemical dysfunction

·  Poverty and poor socio economic conditions

·  Faulty parenting styles

·  Excessive disciplining

·  Parental rejection

·  Parental attitude and behaviours

Treatment Modalities

Psychotherapy: It is given by the trained psychotherapist to establish therapist-client relationships.

Milieu or Group therapy: It is given by taking support and feedback from peers which is more effective than one to one interaction with a therapist.

Cognitive Behaviour therapy: Behavioural strategies offer reinforcement for positive change. Social skills training and assertiveness training teach alternative ways to deal with frustration.

Psychopharmacology: Medications such as anxiolytics, antidepressants, and antipsychotics are available to manage the patients with personality disorders