Cluster B Personality Disorders, Essays (university) of Psychology

Download Cluster B Personality Disorders and more Essays (university) Psychology in PDF only on Docsity! Cluster B Personality Disorders Subject: Psychology — Paper 1 The DSM-IV-TR (2000) defines a mental disorder as: “An enduring pattern of inner experience and behaviour that deviates markedly from the expectations the individuals culture (and is manifested in two or more of his or her areas of mental life :) cognition, affectivity, interpersonal functioning, or impulse control." Such a pattern is rigid, long-term (stable), and recurrent. It manifests itself altogether areas of life (it is pervasive). It is not because of substance-abuse or a medical condition (such as head trauma). It renders the topic dysfunctional "in social, occupational, or other important areas" and this impairment causes distress. In the DSM, there are 10 distinct personality disorders (Paranoid, Schizoid, Schizotypal, Antisocial, Borderline, Histrionic, Narcissistic, Avoidant, Dependent, and Obsessive- compulsive) and one catchall category, Personality Disorders NOS (Not Otherwise Specified). Personality disorders with marked similarities are grouped into clusters. ¢ Cluster A (the Odd or Eccentric Cluster) includes the Paranoid, Schizoid, and mental disturbance Disorders. ¢ Cluster B (the Dramatic, Emotional, or Erratic Cluster) is comprised of the Antisocial, Borderline, Histrionic, and personality Disorders. ¢ Cluster C (the Anxious or Fearful Cluster) encompasses the Avoidant, Dependent, and personality Disorders. The Clusters aren't valid theoretical constructs and haven't been verified or rigorously tested. They constitute merely convenient shorthand then provide little additional insight into their component personality disorders. We start our tour with Cluster B because the personality disorders it includes are ubiquitous. You’re much more likely to possess encounter a Borderline or a Narcissist or a Psychopath than across a Schizotypal, as an example. First and summary of Cluster B: Borderline mental disorder is marked by instability. The patient could even be a roller-coaster of emotions (this is understood as emotional liability). She (most Borderlines are women) fails to need care of stable relationships and dramatically attaches to, clings, and violently detaches from a seemingly inexhaustible stream of lovers, spouses, intimate partners, and friends. Self-image is volatile, one's sense of self-worth is fluctuating and precarious, affect is unpredictable and inappropriate, and impulse control is impaired (the patient's threshold of frustration is low). The Antisocial mental disorder involves contemptuous disregard for others. The psychopath ignores or actively violates other people's rights, choices, wishes, preferences, and emotions. The mental disturbance is founded on how of fantastic grandiosity, brilliance, perfection, and power (omnipotence). The narcissist lacks empathy, is exploitative, and compulsively seeks narcissistic supply (attention, admiration, adulation, being feared, etc.) to buttress his False Self - a confabulated "person" aimed toward inspiring awe and extracting compliance and subservience from others.