1. Personality Disorders
, - Personality: the set of relatively stable characteristics or traits that
determine what individuals do, how they behave, how they perceive and
interact with their social and contextual environment, their thought
patterns and cognitive and coping styles
- Basically the characteristics that make us who we are
- When diagnosing personality disorders, take into account ethnic, cultural
and social factors
- Gender differences:
o Males- Antisocial personality disorder
o Females- Borderline, histrionic and dependent personality
disorders
Personality Psychopathology (Pg 470-471)
- Individuals with personality psychopathology posses rigid patterns of
responding that are inflexible, long-standing and enduring
- Diagnosis of personality disorder characterized by enduring personality
patterns that are:
o Extreme and deviate markedly from cultural expectations
o Inflexible and pervasive across situations
o Evident in adolescence or early adulthood and stable over time
o Associated with distress and impairment
- Only in late adolescence or adulthood when personality development is
complete
- Can function without help- just seen as odd or dramatic people
- Use criteria for general personality disorder as general criteria for all
personality disorders
DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for General Personality Disorder
A. An enduring pattern of inner experience and behavior that deviates markedly
from the expectations of the individual’s culture. This pattern is manifested in
two (or more) of the following areas:
• Cognition (i.e. ways of perceiving and interpreting self, other people, and
events).
• Affectivity (i.e. the range, intensity, liability, and appropriateness of
emotional response).
• Interpersonal functioning.
• Impulse control.
B. The enduring pattern is inflexible and pervasive across a broad range of
personal and social situations.
C. The enduring pattern leads to clinically significant distress or impairment in
social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
D. The pattern is stable and of long duration, and its onset can be traced back at
least to adolescence or early adulthood.
E. The enduring pattern is not better explained as a manifestation or
consequence of another mental disorder.
F. The enduring pattern is not attributable to the physiological effects of a
substance (e.g. a drug of abuse, a medication) or another medical condition
(e.g. head trauma).
, Main features of personality disorder
- Long-standing, develop over time and cause significant social and
occupational difficulties
- Rigid thinking and behavior and are not aware of their problem
- Usually individual must be at least 18 years old to be diagnosed
DISORDER DSM-5 DESCRIPTION
Disorders characterized by odd or eccentric behaviors
Paranoid personality disorder Pervasive pattern of mistrust and
suspiciousness regarding others
motives
Schizoid personality disorder Socially isolated, emotionally cold,
indifferent to others
Schizotypal personality disorder Peculiar thoughts and behaviors, poor
interpersonal relationships
Disorders characterized by dramatic, emotional or erratic behaviors
Antisocial personality disorder Failure to conform to social or legal
codes, lack of anxiety and guilt,
irresponsible behaviors
Borderline personality disorder Intense fluctuations in mood, self-
image, and interpersonal relationships
Histrionic personality disorder Self-dramatization, exaggerated
emotional expression, and seductive,
provocative or attention seeking
behaviors
Narcissistic personality disorder Exaggerated sense of self-importance,
exploitive behavior, lack of empathy
Disorders characterized by anxious or fearful behaviors
Avoidant personality disorder Pervasive social inhibition, fear of
rejection and humiliation
Dependent personality disorder Excessive dependence on others,
inability to assume responsibilities,
submissive
Obsessive-compulsive personality Perfectionism, controlling
disorder interpersonal behavior, devotion to
details, rigidity
Paranoid Personality Disorder
- Pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of others such that their motives
are interpreted as malevolent
- Reluctance to trust others as they always expect to be mistreated or
exploited
- Paranoid personality traits result from the use of projection- defense
mechanism in which unacceptable impulses are denied and attributed to
others (psychodynamic theorists)
, - Personality: the set of relatively stable characteristics or traits that
determine what individuals do, how they behave, how they perceive and
interact with their social and contextual environment, their thought
patterns and cognitive and coping styles
- Basically the characteristics that make us who we are
- When diagnosing personality disorders, take into account ethnic, cultural
and social factors
- Gender differences:
o Males- Antisocial personality disorder
o Females- Borderline, histrionic and dependent personality
disorders
Personality Psychopathology (Pg 470-471)
- Individuals with personality psychopathology posses rigid patterns of
responding that are inflexible, long-standing and enduring
- Diagnosis of personality disorder characterized by enduring personality
patterns that are:
o Extreme and deviate markedly from cultural expectations
o Inflexible and pervasive across situations
o Evident in adolescence or early adulthood and stable over time
o Associated with distress and impairment
- Only in late adolescence or adulthood when personality development is
complete
- Can function without help- just seen as odd or dramatic people
- Use criteria for general personality disorder as general criteria for all
personality disorders
DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for General Personality Disorder
A. An enduring pattern of inner experience and behavior that deviates markedly
from the expectations of the individual’s culture. This pattern is manifested in
two (or more) of the following areas:
• Cognition (i.e. ways of perceiving and interpreting self, other people, and
events).
• Affectivity (i.e. the range, intensity, liability, and appropriateness of
emotional response).
• Interpersonal functioning.
• Impulse control.
B. The enduring pattern is inflexible and pervasive across a broad range of
personal and social situations.
C. The enduring pattern leads to clinically significant distress or impairment in
social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
D. The pattern is stable and of long duration, and its onset can be traced back at
least to adolescence or early adulthood.
E. The enduring pattern is not better explained as a manifestation or
consequence of another mental disorder.
F. The enduring pattern is not attributable to the physiological effects of a
substance (e.g. a drug of abuse, a medication) or another medical condition
(e.g. head trauma).
, Main features of personality disorder
- Long-standing, develop over time and cause significant social and
occupational difficulties
- Rigid thinking and behavior and are not aware of their problem
- Usually individual must be at least 18 years old to be diagnosed
DISORDER DSM-5 DESCRIPTION
Disorders characterized by odd or eccentric behaviors
Paranoid personality disorder Pervasive pattern of mistrust and
suspiciousness regarding others
motives
Schizoid personality disorder Socially isolated, emotionally cold,
indifferent to others
Schizotypal personality disorder Peculiar thoughts and behaviors, poor
interpersonal relationships
Disorders characterized by dramatic, emotional or erratic behaviors
Antisocial personality disorder Failure to conform to social or legal
codes, lack of anxiety and guilt,
irresponsible behaviors
Borderline personality disorder Intense fluctuations in mood, self-
image, and interpersonal relationships
Histrionic personality disorder Self-dramatization, exaggerated
emotional expression, and seductive,
provocative or attention seeking
behaviors
Narcissistic personality disorder Exaggerated sense of self-importance,
exploitive behavior, lack of empathy
Disorders characterized by anxious or fearful behaviors
Avoidant personality disorder Pervasive social inhibition, fear of
rejection and humiliation
Dependent personality disorder Excessive dependence on others,
inability to assume responsibilities,
submissive
Obsessive-compulsive personality Perfectionism, controlling
disorder interpersonal behavior, devotion to
details, rigidity
Paranoid Personality Disorder
- Pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of others such that their motives
are interpreted as malevolent
- Reluctance to trust others as they always expect to be mistreated or
exploited
- Paranoid personality traits result from the use of projection- defense
mechanism in which unacceptable impulses are denied and attributed to
others (psychodynamic theorists)
