Understanding Personality Disorders: Types, Diagnosis, and Prevalence, Exercises of Abnormal Psychology

Download Understanding Personality Disorders: Types, Diagnosis, and Prevalence and more Exercises Abnormal Psychology in PDF only on Docsity! Abnormal Psychology – PSY404 VU ©Copyright Virtual University of Pakistan 163 LESSON 35 PERSONALITY DISORDERS II Personality refers to enduring patterns of thinking and behavior that define the person and distinguish him or her from other people. These enduring 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. Personality disorders are among the most controversial categories in the 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 important in the field of psychopathology. 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. • Fourth, the presence of a co-morbid personality disorder can interfere with the treatment of a disorder such as depression. • The specific symptoms that are used to define personality disorders represent maladaptive variations in several of the building blocks of personality. • These include 1- Motives 2- Cognitive perspectives regarding the self and others 3- Temperament and personality traits. • The authors of DSM-IV-TR have organized ten specific forms of personality disorder into three clusters on the basis of broadly defined characteristics. docsity.com Abnormal Psychology – PSY404 VU ©Copyright Virtual University of Pakistan 164 • The behavior of people who fit the subtypes in cluster A is typically odd, eccentric, or asocial. All three types share similarity with the symptoms of schizophrenia. • The close association with schizophrenia, they are sometimes called schizophrenia spectrum disorders. 1- Paranoid Personality • Paranoid personality disorder is characterized by the pervasive tendency to be inappropriately suspicious of other people’s motives and behaviors. • Paranoid people do not trust anyone; they have trouble maintaining relationships with friends and family members. docsity.com Abnormal Psychology – PSY404 VU ©Copyright Virtual University of Pakistan 167 • Obsessive–compulsive personality disorder should not be confused with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), a type of anxiety disorder. A pattern of intrusive, unwanted thoughts accompanied by ritualistic behaviors is used to define OCD. The definition of obsessive– compulsive personality disorder, in contrast, is concerned with personality traits, such as excessively high levels of conscientiousness. Example Client A has a reputation of being careful and conscientious and careful. He works long hours and brings a lot of money to the firm but he is humorless but takes a lot time in procedural details in staff meetings. The common element in all three disorders is presumably anxiety or fearfulness. This description fits most easily with the avoidant and dependent types. In contrast, obsessive–compulsive personality disorder is more accurately described in terms of preoccupation with rules and with lack of emotional warmth than in terms of anxiety. Like people with avoidant personality disorder, they are easily hurt by criticism, extremely sensitive to disapproval, and lacking in self confidence. One difference between them is that people who are avoidant have trouble initiating a relationship (because they are fearful). People who are dependent have trouble being alone or separating from other people with whom they already have a close relationship. The Diagnosis The diagnosis of Personality Disorders is not an easy and simple task because 1-There are a lot of people with serious personality problems who do not fit the official DSM-IV-TR subtypes. 2-Another frequent complaint about the description of personality disorders is the considerable overlap among categories. 3-Many patients meet the criteria for more than one type. Thus, for diagnosis of personality disorders many experts favor the proposal to use the five-factor model of personality as the basic structure for a comprehensive description of personality problems. 4-There is also extensive overlap between personality disorders and disorders that are diagnosed on Axis I of DSM-IV-TR. Approximately 75 percent of people who qualify for a diagnosis on Axis II also meet criteria for a syndrome such as major depression, substance dependence, or an anxiety disorder. Gender Differences The overall prevalence of personality disorders is approximately equal in men and women. Antisocial personality disorder is unquestionably much more common among men than among women. Almost nothing is known about the extent of potential gender differences for the other types of personality disorder. Borderline personality disorder and dependent personality disorder may be somewhat more prevalent among women than men, but the evidence is not strong. Stability of Personality Disorders over Time Temporal stability is one of the most important assumptions about personality disorders. Evidence for the assumption that personality disorders appear during adolescence and persist into adulthood has, until recently, been limited primarily to antisocial personality disorder. The rate of personality disorders was relatively high in this sample: Seventeen percent of the adolescents received a diagnosis of at least one personality disorder. docsity.com Abnormal Psychology – PSY404 VU ©Copyright Virtual University of Pakistan 168 Viewed from a dimensional perspective, the maladaptive traits that represent the core features of the disorders remained relatively stable between adolescence and young adulthood. Several studies have examined the stability of personality disorders among people who have received professional treatment for their problems, especially those who have been hospitalized for schizotypal or borderline disorders. Recovery rates are relatively high among patients with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. docsity.com