Personality Disorder often occurs due to the environment a person grows up and how he or she is brought up in life; the faiths and beliefs of a person can affect his or her mental health. For a healthy life, one should know what happens when one takes – in, it may be the food or all the pressure of life.
Personality Disorder can be simply said to be a type of mental disorder where a person has a disturbing pattern of thinking, functioning and behaving. This sort of disorder is usually seen in teenagers and adults. It is conventionally believed that Personality Disorder occurs due to the environment a child grows up, as they say, happy family implies a happy child, but not every time it’s the same case. It can also be possible when a person holds keeps all his feelings and emotions inside himself and they just come out, once triggered. There are as many as 10 types of Personality Disorders with three main categories. Each one of them has got very peculiar symptoms and reason for their existence.
Cluster A victims have symptoms of odd and eccentric behavior, paranoia, abnormal cognitions, etc. Cluster A has 3 types, Paranoid, Schizoid, and Schizotypal Personality Disorders. Paranoid Personality Disorders is due to unnecessary paranoia, suspicion and manipulative words inflicted by other humans that, change a person’s way of thinking. People with Schizoid are usually introverts and don’t want to express their feelings and keep them shut. People suffering from Schizotypal disorder think they have some sort of supernatural powers like magical thinking and sixth sense etc.
The characteristics shown by people facing Cluster B Personality Disorder are impulsiveness, violating social norms, hostile, and also abusive and unpredictable. Antisocial, borderline, histrionic, and narcissistic personality disorders are the 4 types that come under this category. Antisocial disorder relates to disregard any sort of social norms or laws. Borderline Disorder is characterized by feelings of emptiness, anger issues, paranoia, obsession and self-damaging behavior. Histrionic Disorder is characterized by sexual promiscuity, rapidly shifting and shallow expression of emotion, self-dramatization, and suggestibility. Narcissistic disorder is characterized by exaggeration of achievements, preoccupation with success and power, excessive need for admiration, a sense of entitlement, exploitation, envy, and arrogance.
Anxiety, fearful thinking or behaviors characterize Cluster C personality disorders. There are 3 types and include avoidant personality disorder, dependent personality disorder and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. The avoidant disorder is all about avoiding people due to assumptions of inferiority. People suffering from Dependent Personality Disorder often feel that cannot be independent or rely on themselves. Victims of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder obsessed with details, orderliness and rules. They get distressed when perfection is not achieved.
In order for a doctor to treat the patients of mental disorder, a diagnosis is made first. Among all the therapies, Psychotherapy is known to be having a great result on victims. It is also known as “talk therapy”. This therapy helps patients deal with their condition, feelings, mood and behavior. Types of Personality disorders include Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Diabetic Behavior Therapy, Inter-Personal therapy and finally, family-focused therapy.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is commonly known as CBT. This therapy works on the victim’s perspective about themselves, other people and the world around. Dialectical behavior therapy is indicated for the treatment of borderline personality disorder, a disorder where suicidal thoughts and self-mutilation actions are common. Interpersonal therapy focuses mainly on how patients interact with family and friends. This therapy is often used on a one-on-one basis as a way of addressing and treating depression. Family-focused therapy is mainly used in treating bipolar disorder. The therapy educates the patient’s family on their family member’s condition and informs them of ways to effectively handle or live with difficulties associated with the condition.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not provide any specified medications for personality disorders. But there are certain psychiatric medications that may help with the symptoms of the disorders, few of them being Antidepressants, Mood stabilizers, Antipsychotic medications, and anti-anxiety medications. Mood stabilizers help stabilize mood swings, aggression and impulsivity, whereas antidepressants can help with irritability, hopelessness, depressed mood.
Antipsychotic medications may help with hallucinations and losing touch with reality (psychosis) symptoms. In some cases, they even help with anger and anxiety. Finally, Anti-anxiety medications help relieve anxiety, agitation, or even insomnia. In many case studies, it is seen that these medications tend to increase impulsiveness of the victim. Hence they are avoided in the treatment of certain personality disorders.
In some cases, a personality disorder may be so severe that the person needs to be admitted to a hospital for psychiatric care. This is generally recommended only when he or she can’t take care of oneself properly or when the person is in immediate danger of harming oneself or someone else. The residential programs have the benefits of 24-hour observation of changes in behavior and faster improvement.
Would you like to read more about this topic? This book might interest you: Personality Disorders.