How many personality disorders are in the dsm 5

Types, Causes, Symptoms & Treatment

Overview

What is a personality disorder?

A personality disorder is a mental health condition that involves long-lasting, all-encompassing, disruptive patterns of thinking, behavior, mood and relating to others. These patterns cause a person significant distress and/or impair their ability to function.

There are 10 types of personality disorders, each with different characteristics and symptoms.

Personality is vital to defining who we are as individuals. It involves a unique blend of traits — including attitudes, thoughts and behaviors — as well as how we express these traits in our interactions with others and with the world around us.

Personality disorders may cause distorted perceptions of reality, abnormal behaviors and distress across various aspects of life, including work, relationships and social functioning. Additionally, people with a personality disorder may not recognize their troubling behaviors or the negative effect they have on others.

What are the types of personality disorders?

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), which is the standard reference publication for recognized mental illnesses, organizes the 10 types of personality disorders into three main clusters (categories). Each cluster has different symptoms in common.

Cluster A personality disorders

Cluster A personality disorders involve unusual and eccentric thinking or behaviors. These include:

Paranoid personality disorder: The main feature of this condition is paranoia, which is a relentless mistrust and suspicion of others without adequate reason for suspicion. People with paranoid personality disorder often believe others are trying to demean, harm or threaten them.
Schizoid personality disorder: This condition is marked by a consistent pattern of detachment from and general disinterest in interpersonal relationships. People with schizoid personality disorder have a limited range of emotions when interacting with others.
Schizotypal personality disorder: People with this condition display a consistent pattern of intense discomfort with and limited need for close relationships. Relationships may be hindered by their distorted views of reality, superstitions and unusual behaviors.

Cluster B personality disorders

Cluster B personality disorders involve dramatic and erratic behaviors. People with these types of conditions display intense, unstable emotions and impulsive behaviors. Cluster B personality disorders include:

Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD): People with ASPD show a lack of respect toward others and don’t follow socially accepted norms or rules. People with ASPD may break the law or cause physical or emotional harm to others around them. They may refuse to take responsibility for their behaviors and/or display disregard for the negative consequences of their actions.
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) : This condition is marked by difficulty with emotional regulation, resulting in low self-esteem, mood swings, impulsive behaviors and subsequent relationship difficulties.
Histrionic personality disorder: This condition is marked by intense, unstable emotions and a distorted self-image. For people with histrionic personality disorder, their self-esteem depends on the approval of others and doesn’t come from a true feeling of self-worth. They have an overwhelming desire to be noticed by others, and may display dramatic and/or inappropriate behaviors to get attention.
Narcissistic personality disorder: This condition involves a consistent pattern of perceived superiority and grandiosity, an excessive need for praise and admiration and a lack of empathy for others. These thoughts and behaviors often stem from low self-esteem and a lack of self-confidence.

Cluster C personality disorders

Cluster C personality disorders involve severe anxiety and fear. They include:

Avoidant personality disorder: People with this condition have chronic feelings of inadequacy and are highly sensitive to being negatively judged by others. Though they would like to interact with others, they tend to avoid social interaction due to the intense fear of being rejected.
Dependent personality disorder: This condition is marked by a constant and excessive need to be cared for by someone else. It also involves submissiveness, a need for constant reassurance and the inability to make decisions. People with dependent personality disorder often become very close to another person and spend great effort trying to please that person. They tend to display passive and clinging behavior and have a fear of separation.
Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD): This condition is marked by a consistent and extreme need for orderliness, perfectionism and control (with no room for flexibility) that ultimately slows or interferes with completing a task. It can also interfere with relationships.

This is a separate condition from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), which is classified as an anxiety disorder. While people with OCD usually are aware that OCD is causing their behavior and accept they need to change, people with OCPD usually have little, if any, self-awareness of their behaviors.

People might have mixed symptoms of more than one personality disorder.

Who do personality disorders affect?

Anyone can have a personality disorder. But different types of personality disorders affect people differently.

Most personality disorders begin in the teen years when your personality further develops and matures. As a result, almost all people diagnosed with personality disorders are above the age of 18. One exception to this is antisocial personality disorder — approximately 80% of people with this disorder will have started to show symptoms by the age of 11.

Antisocial personality disorders are more likely to affect people assigned male at birth. Borderline, histrionic and dependent personality disorders are more likely to affect people assigned female at birth.

How common are personality disorders?

Approximately 9% of adults in the U.S. have some type of personality disorder, and about 6% of the global population has a personality disorder.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) and antisocial personality disorder are the most frequently diagnosed personality disorders.

Symptoms and Causes

What causes personality disorders?

Personality disorders are among the least understood mental health conditions. Scientists are still trying to figure out the cause of them.

So far, they believe the following factors may contribute to the development of personality disorders:

Genetics: Scientists have identified a malfunctioning gene that may be a factor in obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. Researchers are also exploring genetic links to aggression, anxiety and fear, which are traits that can play a role in personality disorders.
Brain changes: Researchers have identified subtle brain differences in people with certain personality disorders. For example, findings in studies on paranoid personality disorder point to altered amygdala functioning. The amygdala is the part of your brain that’s involved with processing fearful and threatening stimuli. In a study on schizotypal personality disorder, researchers found a volumetric decrease in the frontal lobe of their brain.
Childhood trauma: One study revealed a link between childhood traumas and the development of personality disorders. People with borderline personality disorder, for example, had especially high rates of childhood sexual trauma. People with borderline and antisocial personality disorders have issues with intimacy and trust, both of which may be related to childhood abuse and trauma.
Verbal abuse: In one study, people who experienced verbal abuse as children were three times as likely to have borderline, narcissistic, obsessive-compulsive or paranoid personality disorders in adulthood.
Cultural factors: Cultural factors may also play a role in the development of personality disorders, as demonstrated by the varying rates of personality disorders between different countries. For example, there are remarkably low cases of antisocial personality disorders in Taiwan, China and Japan, along with significantly higher rates of cluster C personality disorders.

What are the symptoms of personality disorders?

Each of the 10 types of personality disorders has its own specific signs and symptoms.

But, in general, personality disorders involve problems with:

Identity and a sense of self: People with a personality disorder generally lack a clear or stable image of themselves, and how they see themselves often changes depending on the situation or the people they’re with. Their self-esteem may be unrealistically high or low.
Relationships: People with a personality disorder struggle to form close, stable relationships with others due to their problematic beliefs and behaviors. They may lack empathy or respect for others, be emotionally detached or be overly needy of attention and care.

Another distinguishing sign of personality disorders is that most people who have one often have little to no insight or self-awareness of how their thoughts and behaviors are problematic.

How do you know if someone has a personality disorder?

You can’t know for sure if someone has a personality disorder unless they receive a professional, medical diagnosis.

It’s important to understand the difference between personality types and personality disorders. A person who is shy or likes to spend time alone doesn’t necessarily have an avoidant or schizoid personality disorder.

The difference between personality style and a personality disorder can often be determined by assessing how the person’s personality affects different parts of their life, including:

Work.
Relationships.
Feelings/emotions.
Self-identity.
Awareness of reality.
Behavior and impulse control.

Some general signs of people with a personality disorder include:

Their behavior is inconsistent, frustrating and confusing to loved ones and other people they interact with.
They may have issues understanding realistic and acceptable ways to treat others and behave around them.
They may be unaware of how their behaviors cause problems for themselves and/or others.
If they’re a parent, their parenting style may be detached, overemotional, abusive or irresponsible. This can sometimes lead to physical, emotional or mental issues in their children.

Diagnosis and Tests

How are personality disorders diagnosed?

Personality disorders can be difficult to diagnose since most people with a personality disorder don’t think there’s a problem with their behavior or way of thinking.

Because of this, people with a personality disorder typically don’t seek help or a diagnosis for their condition. Instead, their loved ones or a social agency may refer them to a mental health professional because their behavior causes difficulty for others.

When they do seek help, it’s often due to conditions such as anxiety, depression or substance use, or because of the problems created by their personality disorder, such as divorce or unemployment, not the disorder itself.

Healthcare providers base the diagnosis of a specific personality disorder on criteria provided in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

When a mental health professional, like a psychologist or psychiatrist, suspects someone might have a personality disorder, they often ask broad, general questions that won’t create a defensive response or hostile environment. They ask questions that will shed light on:

Past history.
Relationships
Previous work history.
Reality testing.
Impulse control.

Because a person suspected of having a personality disorder may lack insight into their behaviors, mental health professionals often work with the person’s family, friends and/or parole officers to collect more insight about their behaviors and history.

Personality disorders are generally underdiagnosed because providers sometimes focus on the symptoms of anxiety or depression, which are much more common in the general population than personality disorders. These symptoms may overshadow the features of any underlying personality disorder.

Management and Treatment

How are personality disorders treated?

Personality disorders are some of the most difficult disorders to treat in psychiatry. This is mainly because people with personality disorders don’t think their behavior is problematic, so they don’t often seek treatment.

And even if a person with a personality disorder seeks treatment, modern medicine is still lacking in available treatment options — there are no medications currently approved to treat any personality disorder. But there are medications that can help with symptoms of anxiety and depression, which are common in people with a personality disorder.

But psychotherapy (talk therapy) can help manage personality disorders. Psychotherapy is a term for a variety of treatment techniques that aim to help you identify and change troubling emotions, thoughts and behaviors. Working with a mental health professional, like a psychologist or psychiatrist, can provide support, education and guidance to you and your family.

The main goals of psychotherapy for treating personality disorders include:

Reducing immediate distress, such as anxiety and depression.
Helping the person understand that their problems are internal and not caused by other people or situations.
Decreasing unhealthy and socially undesirable behavior.
Modifying the personality traits that are causing difficulties.

There are several different types of psychotherapy, and each personality disorder requires different types.

For example, studies show that dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is effective for treating those with borderline personality disorder, and people with histrionic personality disorder often benefit from cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT).

Prevention

Can personality disorders be prevented?

At this time, there’s no known way to prevent personality disorders, but many of the related problems might be lessened with treatment. Seeking help as soon as symptoms appear can help decrease the disruption to the person’s life, family and friendships.

Outlook / Prognosis

What is the prognosis (outlook) for personality disorders?

Since people with personality disorders often don’t seek proper medical attention, the overall prognosis for personality disorders is poor.

Untreated personality disorders may result in:

Poor relationships.
Occupational difficulties.
Impaired social functioning.

Studies show that personality disorders are associated with elevated rates of:

Unemployment.
Divorce.
Domestic abuse.
Substance use.
Homelessness.
Crime (especially antisocial personality disorder).

In addition, people with personality disorders are more likely to visit the emergency room (ER), experience traumatic accidents and have early deaths by suicide.

Although the outlook is dire, studies show that collaborative care management can greatly improve outcomes for people with personality disorders if they stay committed to treatment.

If you know someone who has or may have a personality disorder, try to persuade them to seek treatment. It’s also important to educate yourself about the nature of the specific personality disorder so you can better understand what to expect.

A note from Cleveland Clinic

It’s important to remember that personality disorders are mental health conditions. As with all mental health conditions, seeking help as soon as symptoms appear can help decrease the disruptions to your life. Mental health professionals can offer treatment plans that can help you manage your thoughts and behaviors.

The family members of people with personality disorders often experience stress, depression, grief and isolation. It’s important to take care of your mental health and seek help if you’re experiencing these symptoms.

DSM-5: The Ten Personality Disorders: Cluster B

Antisocial Personality Disorder
Histrionic Personality Disorder
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder

Cluster B is called the dramatic, emotional, and erratic cluster. It includes:

Borderline Personality Disorder.
Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
Histrionic Personality Disorder.
Antisocial Personality Disorder.

Disorders in this cluster share problems with impulse control and emotional regulation.

The Antisocial Personality Disorder* is characterized by a pervasive pattern of disregard for the rights of other people that often manifests as hostility and/or aggression. Deceit and manipulation are also central features.

In many cases hostile-aggressive and deceitful behaviors may first appear during childhood.

These children may hurt or torment animals or people.
They may engage in hostile acts such as bullying or intimidating others.
They may have a reckless disregard for property such as setting fires.
They often engage in deceit, theft, and other serious violations of standard rules of conduct.
- When this is the case, Conduct Disorder (a juvenile form of Antisocial Personality Disorder) may be an appropriate diagnosis.
- Conduct Disorder is often considered the precursor to an Antisocial Personality Disorder.

In addition to reckless disregard for others, they often place themselves in dangerous or risky situations.
They frequently act on impulsive urges without considering the consequences. This difficulty with impulse control results in loss of employment, accidents, legal difficulties, and incarceration.

Persons with Antisocial Personality Disorder typically do not experience genuine remorse for the harm they cause others. However, they can become quite adept at feigning remorse when it is in their best interest to do so (such as when standing before a judge).

They take little to no responsibility for their actions. In fact, they will often blame their victims for "causing" their wrong actions, or deserving of their fate. The aggressive features of this personality disorder make it stand out among other personality disorders as individuals with this disorder take a unique toll on society.

Histrionic Personality Disorder

Persons with Histrionic Personality Disorder* are characterized by a pattern of excessive emotionality and attention seeking. Their lives are full of drama (so-called "drama queens"). They are uncomfortable in situations where they are not the center of attention.

People with this disorder are often quite flirtatious or seductive, and like to dress in a manner that draws attention to them.
They can be flamboyant and theatrical, exhibiting an exaggerated degree of emotional expression.
Yet simultaneously, their emotional expression is vague, shallow, and lacking in detail. This gives them the appearance of being disingenuous and insincere.
Moreover, the drama and exaggerated emotional expression often embarrasses friends and acquaintances as they may embrace even casual acquaintances with excessive ardor, or may sob uncontrollably over some minor sentimentality.

People with Histrionic Personality Disorder can appear flighty and fickle. Their behavioral style often gets in the way of truly intimate relationships, but it is also the case that they are uncomfortable being alone.

They tend to feel depressed when they are not the center of attention. When they are in relationships, they often imagine relationships to be more intimate in nature than they actually are.

People with Histrionic Personality Disorder tend to be suggestible; that is, they are easily influenced by other people's suggestions and opinions. A literary character that exemplifies the Histrionic Personality Disorder is the character of Blanche DuBois in Tennessee William's classic play, "Streetcar Named Desire."

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

People with Narcissistic Personality Disorder* have significant problems with their sense of self-worth stemming from a powerful sense of entitlement. This leads them to believe they deserve special treatment, and to assume they have special powers, are uniquely talented, or that they are especially brilliant or attractive. Their sense of entitlement can lead them to act in ways that fundamentally disregard and disrespect the worth of those around them.

People with Narcissistic Personality Disorder are preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success and power, so much so that they might end up getting lost in their daydreams while they
fantasize about their superior intelligence or stunning beauty.
These people can get so caught up in their fantasies that they don't put any effort into their daily life and don't direct their energies toward accomplishing their goals.
They may believe that they are special and deserve special treatment, and may display an attitude that is arrogant and haughty.
- This can create a lot of conflict with other people who feel exploited and who dislike being treated in a condescending fashion.
People with Narcissistic Personality Disorder often feel devastated when they realize that they have normal, average human limitations; that they are not as special as they think, or that others don't admire them as much as they would like.
- These realizations are often accompanied by feelings of intense anger or shame that they sometimes take out on other people.
Their need to be powerful, and admired, coupled with a lack of empathy for others, makes for conflictual relationships that are often superficial and devoid of real intimacy and caring.

Status is very important to people with Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Associating with famous and special people provides them a sense of importance. These individuals can quickly shift from over-idealizing others to devaluing them.

However, the same is true of their self-judgments. They tend to vacillate between feeling like they have unlimited abilities, and then feeling deflated, worthless, and devastated when they encounter their normal, average human limitations. Despite their bravado, people with Narcissistic Personality Disorder require a lot of admiration from other people in order to bolster their own fragile self-esteem. They can be quite manipulative in extracting the necessary attention from those people around them.

Borderline Personality Disorder

Borderline Personality Disorder* is one of the most widely studied personality disorders. People with Borderline Personality Disorder tend to experience intense and unstable emotions and moods that can shift fairly quickly. They generally have a hard time calming down once they have become upset. As a result, they frequently have angry outbursts and engage in impulsive behaviors such as substance abuse, risky sexual liaisons, self-injury, overspending, or binge eating. These behaviors often function to sooth them in the short-term, but harm them in the longer term.

People with Borderline Personality Disorder tend to see the world in polarized, over-simplified, all-or-nothing terms.
They apply their harsh either/or judgments to others and to themselves and their perceptions of themselves and others may quickly vacillate back and forth between "all good" and "all bad."
This tendency leads to an unstable sense of self, so that persons with this disorder tend to have a hard time being consistent.
They can frequently change careers, relationships, life goals, or residences. Quite often these radical changes occur without any warning or advance preparation.

Black-and-White Thinking and Emotion Dysregulation in Borderline Personality Disorder

People with Borderline Personality Disorder tend to view the world in terms of black-and-white, or all-or-nothing thinking. Their tendency to see the world in black-or-white (polarized) terms makes it easy for them to misinterpret the actions and motivations of others.

These polarized thoughts about their relationships with others lead them to experience intense emotional reactions, which in turn interacts with their difficulties in regulating these intense emotions.
The result is that they will characteristically experience great distress which they cannot easily control and may subsequently engage in self-destructive behaviors as they do their best to cope.
The intensity of their emotions, coupled with their difficulty regulating these emotions, leads them to act impulsively.

To illustrate the way black-and-white thinking, emotional dys-regulation, and poor impulse regulation all merge and culminate to create interpersonal conflict and distress, let's use an example:

Suppose the partner of a woman with Borderline Personality Disorder fails to remember their anniversary. Black-and-white thinking causes her to conclude, "He doesn't love me anymore" and all-or-nothing thinking leads her to (falsely) conclude, "If he does not love me, then he must hate me."
Such thoughts would easily lead to some pretty intense emotions, such as feeling rejected, abandoned, sad, and angry. She has a hard time tolerating and dealing with these intense feelings and consequently becomes highly upset and overwhelmed. The intensity of her negative feelings seems unbearable.
Next she has a powerful impulse to "do something" just so that these feelings will go away. She might angrily accuse her partner of having an affair and she might plead with her partner not to leave her.
Meanwhile her partner is baffled by this extreme reaction, particularly since he is not having an affair, and he readily recalls all his other recent loving gestures. Her partner might also become angry at these wild accusations of infidelity and so the conflict escalates and things get more intense.
Alone after the fight, the woman feels overwhelming self-loathing or numbness and goes on to intentionally injure herself (by cutting or burning herself) as a way to cope with her numbness.
When her partner learns about this self-harm behavior he can't understand it and concludes he is being manipulated. He expresses his strong concern for her well-being but also his anger. In turn, she feels misunderstood.

Clearly, the Borderline Personality Disorder with its combination of distorted thought patterns, intense and under-regulated emotions, and poor impulse control is practically designed to wreak havoc on any interpersonal relationship.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Learn more about Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder

*It is important to remember that everyone can exhibit some of these personality traits from time to time. To meet the diagnostic requirement of a personality disorder, these traits must be inflexible; i.e., they can be regularly observed without regard to time, place, or circumstance.

Furthermore, these traits must cause functional impairment and/or subjective distress. Functional impairment means these traits interfere with a person's ability to functional well in society. The symptoms cause problems in interpersonal relationships; or at work, school, or home. Subjective distress means the person with a personality disorder may experience their symptoms as unwanted, harmful, painful, embarrassing, or otherwise cause them distress. The above list only briefly summarizes these individual Cluster B personality disorders. Richer, more detailed descriptions of these disorders are found in the section describing the four core features of personality disorders.

Personality disorders - how to recognize (signs and symptoms), methods of treatment

Personality disorder is a serious mental disorder, with a simultaneous change in behavioral and characterological tendencies. The disease is characterized by the involvement of several spheres of the personality, persistent disturbances in feelings, thinking, and actions. Against the background of the suppression and decompensation of some traits, others clearly begin to appear, the severity of internal experiences is significantly aggravated.

It should be noted that this diagnosis may include disorders that are not similar to each other. In some cases, the manifestations are so pronounced that the life of the patient becomes unbearable. Qualified professionals of Profi-Detox, who have extensive experience in the treatment of such disorders, can help correct the situation.

Causes of personality disorders

The illness may develop spontaneously or be a symptom of other mental disorders. Any factors that damage the brain, starting from childhood, can lead to a pathological condition:

stress,
pathological heredity;
perinatal disorders;
exogenous-organic influences;
toxins - drugs, spice, alcohol;
traumatic brain injury;
brain diseases.

It has been proven that personality defects are often congenital in nature, although they can form at puberty and much later in life. Provocateurs for a child can be:

suffered violence;
neglect of interests and feelings;
alcoholism and mental illness of parents;
intimate abuse.

Motivation for treatment

Emergency help 24/7

Best specialists

Quality assurance

Symptoms of personality disorders

The disease occurs against the background of progressive changes in behavior, thinking, personality traits. The first signs become noticeable in the patient's inadequate attitude towards others, in difficulties in communicating with loved ones. Frequent mood and eating disorders occur.

The main manifestations include the following persistent symptoms:

inability to control negative emotions and feelings;
violation of relationships with relatives - children, parents, spouses;
constant presence of negativity - anger, anxiety, feeling of trouble;
feeling of worthlessness;
frequent confrontations with other people - quarrels, threats, insults;
increased anxiety;
emptiness, emotional blackout;
avoidance of human contact.

Types of personality disorders

Any disorder has characteristic typical features, differs in severity and etiology. In the classification used by psychotherapists, there are 10 most characteristic forms of personality disorders, which are divided into 3 main categories:

Cluster	Deviations	Disorder
"A"	Eccentric	Schizotypal
		Schizoid
		Paranoid
"B"	Emotional	Border
	Theatrical	Hysterical
	Theatrical	Antisocial
	Oscillating	Narcissistic
"C"	Alarm	Avoidant
	Alarm	Obsessive-compulsive
	Panic	Dependent

Free consultation

+38 (067) 126 04 04

How is personality disorder treated?

Therapy of patients with personality disorders in Profi-Detox is carried out in several stages and is very individual. Psychotherapists with many years of experience, based on an assessment of the general condition of the patient and his symptoms, select an individual drug treatment regimen. Typological and diagnostic indicators are taken into account.

All of our specialists have the highest qualifications and are regularly assessed, since working with such patients has certain difficulties and requires special training and knowledge. Psychotherapy is combined with drug treatment.
The following classes of drugs are used:

Sedatives. They soothe and relieve excessive nervous tension and anxiety. Restore normal sleep, correct the general condition. Eliminate symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Antipsychotics. They have a pronounced sedative effect and allow the patient not to respond to triggers. Eliminate aggression and irritability.
Antipsychotics. Reduce psychomotor agitation. Used for hallucinations, delusions.
Tranquilizers. They relieve tension and have a mild sedative effect. Relieve any form of stress.
Nootropics. Restore mental activity, improve thought processes, help fight stress.

Patient transfer

We arrive at the address within 45 - 60 minutes.

Free consultation

Call and ask any question.

Guaranteed anonymity

No one will know that you are on treatment.

The main tasks that psychotherapists face are to remove depressive manifestations, lower the level of anxiety, help to understand the peculiarities of wrong behavior and actions, and reduce the inadequacy of their manifestations. Great importance is given to psychic comorbid and personal psychology.

The following methods have proved their effectiveness:

classical psychoanalysis;
dialectical behavior therapy;
family therapy;
group self-help methods.

On their own, patients are unable to notice personality disorders, so they need the help of loved ones to contact professionals. You can contact the clinic by phone or online chat. If you start psychotherapeutic and drug treatment in a timely manner, the doctors of the clinic guarantee a favorable prognosis. The patient will have a significantly better quality of life.

Types of personality disorders and features of their treatment. Paranoid, schizoid, dissocial, hysterical disorder, obsessive-compulsive, obsessive-compulsive, anxious, narcissistic

The main feature of personality disorders are pronounced maladaptive features of the psyche - such patients do not know how and cannot get along with others, adapt to new conditions. Previously, personality disorders were called psychopathy, but over time, experts adopted a Western point of view - psychopathy is still a separate mental disorder. There are several types of personality disorders, sometimes there are mixed types of the disease. Treatment should only be carried out by experienced professionals, but the main problem with this disorder is that patients for the most part do not recognize their mental problems.

Submit an application for diagnosis and treatment

I confirm that I accept the terms of consent to the processing of personal data.

Types of personality disorders and features of their treatment

Every fifteenth inhabitant of our planet suffers from a personality disorder. Moreover, he himself hardly perceives his condition as a disease that requires an appeal to specialists. He will justify all his actions and consider his behavior normal. Treatment denies, and the consequences are unpredictable.

Personality disorder: adjustment difficulties

Personality disorder is a maladaptive pattern of behavior caused by a persistent mental disorder that is not associated with a physical or neurological disease. This pathology is difficult to correct, because the patient does not believe that he needs treatment. There is no motivation, which is a catalyst for positive changes. The individual himself does not seek to get rid of the violation and does not make good contact with psychotherapists. Late appeal to specialists leads to the fact that the patient gets an appointment with a psychiatrist already in the stage of deep neglect of the disease. It can be difficult to relieve symptoms and cure. The first signs of the disease are actively manifested in adolescence. Before this period, individual episodes are possible, but only after the period of puberty can we talk about the problem. Individuals with cognitive personality disorder do not understand why others talk about any of their problems. After all, they believe that behavior and actions are normal. People with personality disorders are poorly perceived in society. They often have difficulties in personal communication. But at the same time, patients do not feel pangs of remorse and have no sympathy for others. After a certain time, their relationship with the world is built not according to the principle of personal adaptation to society, but according to the scheme, when the society is forced to accept or not accept a problematic person. The lack of motivation and desire to be treated exacerbates the problem, since not every doctor can find an approach to such a patient, relieve the symptoms of exacerbation and help get rid of the problem.

Specific personality disorders

In Soviet times, overly emotional individuals were often called psychopaths. Such a characterization and classification was not inherent in Western psychiatry. Psychopathy is a serious violation of a behavioral nature, in which, against the background of underdevelopment of a number of personality traits, one clearly dominates. This includes a number of deviations. Types of personality disorders:

§ Paranoid - the patient is dominated by overvalued ideas. He attaches special importance to his personality. But he treats others with hostility, suspecting them of malicious intent. A person with a pathology does not recognize its presence. When relatives or friends pay attention to a cognitive deviation and try to take him to a specialist, he will assure that everything is in order with him and deny the existence of a problem. Very sensitive to criticism.
§ Schizoid - this diagnosis is characterized by introversion, isolation, decreased interest in life's things. The patient does not perceive the accepted norms of social behavior, often behaves eccentrically. Schizoid personality disorders are associated with a great passion for some kind of activity in which the individual succeeds. For example, he may be pathologically addicted to various health systems, to the point of attracting other people to his interests. Experts believe that in this way a certain asociality is replaced. Also, such patients may have problems with alcohol, drugs or other types of addiction.
§ Dissocial - a characteristic feature of this personality disorder is the patient's cognitive defiant behavior in order to get what he wants. With all this, such patients are able to win over people, including doctors. This type is especially pronounced in late adolescence.
§ Hysterical - the main goal of such patients is to draw attention to their person in any way, including defiant behavior. The diagnosis is more typical for women. Atypical capriciousness, inconstancy of desires, extravagance, deceit are observed. In order to attract attention, the patient invents non-existent diseases for himself, the symptoms of which can be given out by the autonomic system and which is difficult to remove.
§ Obsessive-compulsive - patients with this type of personality disorder pathologically strive for order and perfection. They have no sense of humor, they try to be perfect in everything. When the set ideal goals are not achieved, they can fall into depressive states.
§ Anxiety - such a personality disorder is characterized by the cultivation of a personal inferiority complex. Patients are in a state of perpetual anxiety and uncertainty. From childhood, such patients are shy and timid. Often suspect others of hostility. They are prone to depression.
§ Narcissistic - a deviation in which a person manifests self-admiration from childhood, a desire to be constantly admired. Such a patient does not accept criticism: he reacts to it either with resentment or with aggression. Indifferent to the feelings of other people, prone to exploiting them to achieve their own goals.

Different forms of psychopathy require an individual approach to treatment. Personality disorders should not be confused with character accentuation. In the latter case, a person also has behavioral features, but they lie within the upper limit of the norm. In addition, it is adapted to social conditions. The classification of classical psychopathy is inappropriate here. Diagnosis and types are different.

Causes that cause personality and behavioral disorders

All specific personality disorders are usually divided into three clusters. Their classification:

§ types of cluster A psychopathy: paranoid and schizoid;
§ Cluster B psychopathy: hysterical, asocial, narcissistic;
§ Types of cluster B psychopathy: obsessive-compulsive, depressive.

The causes of cluster A psychopathy are considered to be genetic and hereditary. The fact is that among the relatives of patients who have a personality disorder, as a rule, there is at least one with schizophrenia. A hereditary predisposition to pathologies can also be traced in cluster B and C psychopathy. The first option can also be aggravated by problems with alcohol: in families of people who drink, children often develop with disorders. There is a version that cognitive specific personality disorders may be associated with hormonal disorders in the body. If a person has elevated levels of testosterone, estrone and estradiol, the consequences of this are manifested in the form of aggression. In addition, he does not produce enough endorphins, which, in turn, leads to depressive disorders. The social factor also plays an important role in the formation of the psychotype. For active children, space is important. If they are forced to be brought up in a closed space, small areas, this leads to the appearance of hyperactivity. Anxious babies from birth can become balanced if they are raised by emotionally stable parents. A calm mother can help a child become confident, and an anxious one can not remove, but increase his personal anxiety state. Character traits become noticeable already in early childhood. In adolescence, they can already develop as a personality disorder. Cognitive impairment is manifested in a decrease in memory, increased fatigue. Pathologies of the nervous system are observed more often in people with an asocial temperament.

Mixed personality disorder

This type of psychopathy is less studied than others. The classification has no special criteria. The patient manifests forms of one or the other type of disorders that are not persistent. Therefore, this type of disorder is also called mosaic psychopathy. But it is also difficult for a person with a mixed type of disorder to get along in society because of the peculiarities of their behavior. Instability of character is often the basis that contributes to the development of various types of addiction. Mixed personality disorder may be accompanied by alcoholism, drug addiction, gambling addiction. Mosaic psychopathy can combine symptoms of the schizoid and paranoid types. Such people do not know how to build social contacts in society, they are obsessed with overvalued ideas. With the predominance of paranoid symptoms, patients suffer from increased suspicion. They are prone to scandals, threats, like to write angry complaints about everyone and everything. Specialists are alarmed if signs (classification) of several disorders coexist in one patient: schizoid, hysterical, asthenic, excitable. In this case, there is a high risk of developing schizophrenia. Brain injuries or complications after a number of diseases can lead to mosaic types of pathology. This mixed personality disorder is considered acquired. If we consider the situation in detail, it will look like this: a person already has an innate tendency to mosaic psychopathy, which, due to certain circumstances, is superimposed by organic pathology. Mosaic disorder requires specific treatment only when symptoms worsen, or if there is organic build-up. Then neuroleptics, tranquilizers, vitamins can be prescribed by a specialist.

Infantile personality disorder

With this type of psychopathy, signs of social immaturity are pronounced. A person is not able to withstand stressful situations and relieve tension. In difficult circumstances, he does not control his emotions in the same way as children do. Infantile personality disorders for the first time clearly declare themselves in adolescence. Hormonal storms that occur at this time with a person cause changes in the psycho-emotional sphere. As you get older, the diagnosis can only progress. It is possible to finally talk about the presence of the disease only after reaching 16-17 years. In stressful circumstances, the patient manifests himself immature, poorly controls aggression, anxiety, fear. Such a person is not hired for military service, they are denied employment in law enforcement agencies. Permits to carry weapons or obtain a driver's license are decided on a limited and strictly case-by-case basis, according to an assessment of signs and condition.

Transient personality disorder

This diagnosis refers to borderline conditions, when the symptoms of deviation are difficult to attribute to any type of personality disorder. The main causes of psychopathy are long-term stressful situations. In the modern world, a person is surrounded by many unfavorable factors: troubles at work, military operations, difficult family circumstances, financial failures, moving... All this disrupts the usual way of life and unbalances. If such circumstances last too long, the human psyche does not always have a reserve to survive and overcome them. Transient personality disorder has its own characteristics:

§ disorientation;
§ hallucinations;
§ nonsense;
§ inhibition of verbal and motor functions.

Even one of the symptoms can already signal a disorder. This diagnosis is special in that the disease does not last too long: sometimes only a day, and sometimes a month. It suddenly arises and just as it passes. Sometimes a person can go to sleep with a disturbance, and get up in a normal emotional state with residual effects in the form of increased anxiety or sleep disturbances. With each new stress, a spontaneous return of pathology is possible. Such a diagnosis does not pass without a trace. In the event that there are signs of delirium or hallucinations, such a person requires special treatment, because his condition can also threaten those around him. In the period between exacerbations, the patient experiences emotional burnout, in which nerve cells are also destroyed. Therefore, even for preventive purposes, it is recommended to take vitamins and herbal remedies. As historical examples show, partial transient personality disorder is not a benign condition. Many of the famous serial killers and maniacs had this diagnosis. They led a normal life, had families, work, but during the period of exacerbations they committed crimes. When Western experts studied the brains of executed criminals, they did not find significant changes in it. All its parts corresponded to the norm of a healthy person. And only stressful conditions could lead to the appearance of signs of a personality disorder, which entailed antisocial acts. Perhaps, if during the period when the first signs of the disease appeared, there would have been a person nearby who noticed this and helped to contact a specialist, such consequences could have been avoided. Being face-to-face with continuous stressful situations, the psyche simply could not stand it. The mechanism of the development of the disease was launched.

Treatment for personality disorders

When a person is diagnosed with psychopathy, they rarely agree with it. The peculiarity of this disease is that the patient does not see problems in himself, but looks for them in others. Treatment in this case is always difficult. According to statistics, only one in five of them agree to accept help.

Learn more