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PERSONALITY DISORDERS:Causes of Personality Disorders, Motive

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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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Table of Contents:
  1. ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY:PSYCHOSIS, Team approach in psychology
  2. WHAT IS ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR:Dysfunction, Distress, Danger
  3. PSYCHOPATHOLOGY IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT:Supernatural Model, Biological Model
  4. PSYCHOPATHOLOGY IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT:Free association, Dream analysis
  5. PSYCHOPATHOLOGY IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT:Humanistic Model, Classical Conditioning
  6. RESEARCH METHODS:To Read Research, To Evaluate Research, To increase marketability
  7. RESEARCH DESIGNS:Types of Variables, Confounding variables or extraneous
  8. EXPERIMENTAL REASEARCH DESIGNS:Control Groups, Placebo Control Groups
  9. GENETICS:Adoption Studies, Twin Studies, Sequential Design, Follow back studies
  10. RESEARCH ETHICS:Approval for the research project, Risk, Consent
  11. CAUSES OF ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR:Biological Dimensions
  12. THE STRUCTURE OF BRAIN:Peripheral Nervous System, Psychoanalytic Model
  13. CAUSES OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY:Biomedical Model, Humanistic model
  14. CAUSES OF ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR ETIOLOGICAL FACTORS OF ABNORMALITY
  15. CLASSIFICATION AND ASSESSMENT:Reliability, Test retest, Split Half
  16. DIAGNOSING PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS:The categorical approach, Prototypical approach
  17. EVALUATING SYSTEMS:Basic Issues in Assessment, Interviews
  18. ASSESSMENT of PERSONALITY:Advantages of MMPI-2, Intelligence Tests
  19. ASSESSMENT of PERSONALITY (2):Neuropsychological Tests, Biofeedback
  20. PSYCHOTHERAPY:Global Therapies, Individual therapy, Brief Historical Perspective
  21. PSYCHOTHERAPY:Problem based therapies, Gestalt therapy, Behavioral therapies
  22. PSYCHOTHERAPY:Ego Analysis, Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, Aversion Therapy
  23. PSYCHOTHERAPY:Humanistic Psychotherapy, Client-Centered Therapy, Gestalt therapy
  24. ANXIETY DISORDERS:THEORIES ABOUT ANXIETY DISORDERS
  25. ANXIETY DISORDERS:Social Phobias, Agoraphobia, Treating Phobias
  26. MOOD DISORDERS:Emotional Symptoms, Cognitive Symptoms, Bipolar Disorders
  27. MOOD DISORDERS:DIAGNOSIS, Further Descriptions and Subtypes, Social Factors
  28. SUICIDE:PRECIPITATING FACTORS IN SUICIDE, VIEWS ON SUICIDE
  29. STRESS:Stress as a Life Event, Coping, Optimism, Health Behavior
  30. STRESS:Psychophysiological Responses to Stress, Health Behavior
  31. ACUTE AND POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDERS
  32. DISSOCIATIVE AND SOMATOFORM DISORDERS:DISSOCIATIVE DISORDERS
  33. DISSOCIATIVE and SOMATOFORM DISORDERS:SOMATOFORM DISORDERS
  34. PERSONALITY DISORDERS:Causes of Personality Disorders, Motive
  35. PERSONALITY DISORDERS:Paranoid Personality, Schizoid Personality, The Diagnosis
  36. ALCOHOLISM AND SUBSTANCE RELATED DISORDERS:Poly Drug Use
  37. ALCOHOLISM AND SUBSTANCE RELATED DISORDERS:Integrated Systems
  38. SCHIZOPHRENIA:Prodromal Phase, Residual Phase, Negative symptoms
  39. SCHIZOPHRENIA:Related Psychotic Disorders, Causes of Schizophrenia
  40. DEMENTIA DELIRIUM AND AMNESTIC DISORDERS:DELIRIUM, Causes of Delirium
  41. DEMENTIA DELIRIUM AND AMNESTIC DISORDERS:Amnesia
  42. MENTAL RETARDATION AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS
  43. MENTAL RETARDATION AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS
  44. PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS OF CHILDHOOD:Kinds of Internalizing Disorders
  45. LIFE CYCLE TRANSITIONS AND ADULT DEVELOPMENT:Aging