PERSONALITY DISORDERS:Causes of Personality Disorders, Motive

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Abnormal Psychology PSY404

Lesson 34

PERSONALITY DISORDERS

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.

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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.

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One point of view that has come to be widely accepted is known as the five factor model of

personality.

The basic traits (also known as domains) included in this model are neuroticism, extraversion,

openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness.

Taken as a whole, the five-factor model provides a relatively comprehensive description of any

person's behavior.

The authors of DSM-IV-TR have organized ten specific forms of personality disorder into three

clusters on the basis of broadly defined characteristics.

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.

One implicit assumption in the DSM-IV-TR system is that these types of personality disorder may

represent behavioral traits or interpersonal styles that precede the onset of full-blown psychosis.

Because of their 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. Because paranoid people do not trust anyone, they

have trouble maintaining relationships with friends and family members.

2- Schizoid Personality

Schizoid personality disorder is defined in terms of a pervasive pattern of indifference to other people,

coupled with a diminished range of emotional experience and expression. These people are loners; they

prefer social isolation to interactions with friends or family.

3- Schizotypal Personality

Schizotypal personality disorder centers on peculiar patterns of behavior rather than on the emotional

restriction and social withdrawal that are associated with schizoid personality disorder. People with this

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disorder may report bizarre fantasies and unusual perceptual experiences. Their speech may be slightly

difficult to follow because they use words in an odd way or because they express themselves in a vague

or disjointed manner. In spite of their odd or unusual behaviors, people with schizotypal personality

disorder are not psychotic or out of touch with reality. According to DSM-IV-TR, these disorders are

characterized by dramatic, emotional, or erratic behavior, and all are associated with marked difficulty in

sustaining interpersonal relationships.

4- Antisocial Personality

Antisocial personality disorder is defined in terms of a persistent pattern of irresponsible and antisocial

behavior that begins during childhood or adolescence and continues into the adult years. The DSM-IV-

TR definition is based on features that, beginning in childhood, indicate a pervasive pattern of disregard

for, and violation of, the rights of others. Once the person has become an adult, these difficulties

include persistent failure to perform responsibilities that are associated with occupational and family

roles.

5- Borderline Personality

Borderline personality disorder is a diffuse category whose essential feature is a pervasive pattern of

instability in mood and interpersonal relationships. People with this disorder find it very difficult to be

alone.

They form intense, unstable relationships with other people and are often seen by others as being

manipulative. Many clinicians consider identity disturbance to be the diagnostic hallmark of borderline

personality disorder. People with this disturbance presumably have great difficulty maintaining an

integrated image of them that simultaneously incorporates their positive and negative features.

6- Histrionic Personality

Histrionic personality disorder is characterized by a pervasive pattern of excessive emotionality and

attention seeking behavior. People with this disorder thrive on being the center of attention and they

want the spotlight on them at all times. They are self-centered, vain, and demanding, and they

constantly seek approval from others. The concept of histrionic personality disorder overlaps

extensively with other types of personality disorder, especially borderline personality disorder. There

may also be an etiological link between histrionic and antisocial personality disorders. Both may reflect a

common, underlying tendency toward lack of inhibition. People with both types of disorder form

shallow, intense relationships with others, and they can be extremely manipulative.

7- Narcissistic Personality

The essential feature of narcissistic personality disorder is a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for

admiration, and inability to empathize with other people.

· Narcissistic people have a greatly exaggerated sense of their own importance.

· They are preoccupied with their own achievements and abilities.

· There is a considerable amount of overlap between narcissistic personality disorder and borderline

personality disorder.

· Both types of people feel that other people should recognize their needs and do special favors for

them.

· They may also react with anger if they are criticized.

· The distinction between these disorders hinges on the inflated sense of self-importance that is

found in narcissistic personality disorder and the deflated or devalued sense of self found in

borderline personality disorder.

· 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, obsessivecompulsive personality disorder is more accurately described in terms of

preoccupation with rules and with lack of emotional warmth than in terms of anxiety.

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8- Avoidant Personality

· Avoidant personality disorder is characterized by a pervasive pattern of social discomfort, fear of

negative evaluation, and timidity.

· People with this disorder tend to be socially isolated when outside their own family circles because

they are afraid of criticism.

· Unlike people with schizoid personality disorder, they want to be liked by others, but they are

extremely shy--easily hurt by even minimal signs of disapproval from other people.

· Thus they avoid social and occupational activities that require significant contact with other people.

· Avoidant personality disorder is often indistinguishable from generalized social phobia.

· Some experts have argued that they are probably two different ways of defining the same condition.

· Others have argued that people with avoidant personality disorder have more trouble than people

with social phobia in relating to other people.

9-Dependent Personality

· The essential feature of dependent personality disorder is a pervasive pattern of submissive and

clinging behavior.

· People with this disorder are afraid of separating from other people on whom they are dependent

for advice and reassurance.

· Often unable to make everyday decisions on their own, they feel anxious and helpless when they

are alone.

10- ObsessiveCompulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD

· Obsessivecompulsive personality disorder (OCPD) is defined by a pervasive pattern of

orderliness, perfectionism, and mental and interpersonal control, at the expense of flexibility,

openness, and efficiency.

· People with this disorder set ambitious standards for their own performance that frequently are so

high as to be unattainable.

· The central features of this disorder may involve a marked need for control and lack of tolerance

for uncertainty.

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