Understanding Personality Disorders: Definition, Causes, and Types, Exercises of Abnormal Psychology

Download Understanding Personality Disorders: Definition, Causes, and Types and more Exercises Abnormal Psychology in PDF only on Docsity! Abnormal Psychology – PSY404 VU ©Copyright Virtual University of Pakistan 158 LESSON 34 PERSONALITY DISORDERS I We often hear remarks that some people have a pleasing personality while others have charming and fascinating personality. Some political leaders have charismatic personality while others have repulsive and annoying personality. So the question comes to your mind that What is personality? Personality refers to characteristic ways a person behaves and thinks. Example • A is shy and timid. • B is sensitive and gets upset easily. • C is suspicious of friends and family. • D is confident and successful. Definition of Personality Personality refers to enduring patterns of thinking and behavior that define the person and distinguish him or her from other people. These patterns are ways of expressing emotion as well as patterns of thinking about ourselves and other people. When enduring patterns of behavior and emotion bring the person into repeated conflicts with others, and when they prevent the person from maintaining close relationships with others, an individual’s personality may be considered disordered. All of the personality disorders are based on exaggerated personality traits that are frequently disturbing or annoying to other people. In order to qualify for a personality disorder diagnosis in DSM-IV-TR, a person must fit the general definition of personality disorder (which applies to all 10 subtypes) and must also meet the specific criteria for a particular type of personality disorder. The specific criteria consist of a list of traits and behaviors that characterize the disorder. The general definition of personality disorder presented in DSM-IV-TR emphasizes the duration of the pattern and the social impairment associated with the traits in question. The pattern must be evident in two or more of the following domains: 1- Cognition (such as ways of thinking about the self and other people) 2- Emotional responses 3- Interpersonal functioning 4- Impulse control. This pattern of maladaptive experience and behavior must also be: 1- Inflexible and pervasive across a broad range of personal and social situations, 2- The source of clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning, 3- Stable and of long duration, with an onset that can be traced back at least to adolescence or early adulthood. The concept of social dysfunction plays an important role in the definition of personality disorders. It provides a large part of the justification for defining these problems as mental disorders. Personality disorders are among the most controversial categories in diagnostic system for mental disorders. 1- They are difficult to identify reliably, their etiology is poorly understood, and there is relatively little evidence to indicate that they can be treated successfully. 2- Although they are difficult to define and measure, but personality disorders are also important in the field of psychopathology. docsity.com Abnormal Psychology – PSY404 VU ©Copyright Virtual University of Pakistan 159 Several observations support this argument. • First, personality disorders are associated with significant social and occupational impairment. • Second, the presence of pathological personality traits during adolescence is associated with an increased risk for the subsequent development of other mental disorders. • Third, in some cases, personality disorders actually represent the beginning stages of the onset of a more serious form of psychopathology. • Finally, the presence of a comorbid personality disorder can interfere with the treatment of a disorder such as depression. Most other forms of mental disorder, such as anxiety disorders and mood disorders, are ego-dystonic; that is, people with these disorders are distressed by their symptoms and uncomfortable with their situations. Personality disorders are usually ego-syntonic—the ideas or impulses with which they are associated are acceptable to the person. People with personality disorders frequently do not see themselves as being disturbed. We might also say that they do not have insight into the nature of their own problems. The ego-syntonic nature of many forms of personality disorder raises important questions about the limitations of self-report measures—interviews and questionnaires—for their assessment. Many people with personality disorders are unable to view themselves realistically and are unaware of the effect that their behavior has on others. The specific symptoms that are used to define personality disorders represent maladaptive variations in several of the building blocks of personality. Causes of Personality Disorders These causes include motives, cognitive perspectives regarding the self and others temperament and personality traits. 1- Motive • The concept of a motive refers to a person’s desires and goals. • Motives (either conscious or unconscious) describe the way that the person would like things to be, and they help to explain why people behave in a particular fashion. • The most important motives in understanding human personality are affiliation—the desire for close relationships with other people —and power—the desire for impact, prestige, or dominance. • Individual differences with regard to these motives have an important influence on a person’s health and adjustment. • Many of the symptoms of personality disorders can be described in terms of maladaptive variations with regard to needs for affiliation and power. 2- Cognitive Perspectives • Our social world also depends on mental processes that determine knowledge about us and other people which includes the mental process of perception. When distortions take place in these mechanisms we come across personality disorders. • When we misperceive the intentions and motives and abilities of other people, our relationships can be severely disturbed. • Many elements of social interaction also depend on being able to evaluate the nature of our relationships with other people and then to make accurate judgments about appropriate and inappropriate behaviors. 3- Temperament and Personality Traits • Temperament refers to a person’s most basic, characteristic styles of relating to the world, especially those styles that are evident during the first year of life. • Experts disagree about the basic dimensions of temperament and personality. Some theories are relatively simple, using only three or four dimensions. While others are more complicated and consider as many as 30 or 40 traits. docsity.com