When life turns into a fight
Personality disorders influence the personality i.e.the way they feel, think, act, believe. It's a sort of disorder when a person is constantly at war with other people and their surroundings. The whole life turns into a fight. A world is a place to be conquered and full of potential enemies. Quickly gaining control is a must.
Internalization of blame
As one grows older they see they have destroyed their relationships repeatedly due to constant conflicts they got engaged in. They end up alone starting to realize that their own actions caused those rifts.
Externalization of blame
When a person is young they tend to think everything is someone else's fault.
If they don't get a job it's because a manager is stupid, not because they didn't perform well.
They feel special in a way they simply don't want to act as a majority do. But when marginalized they strive for peer groups where their outrageous behaviour is more respected and acknowledged.
MAJOR TYPES OF PERSONALITY DISORDER
ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER (ASPD)
AVOIDANT (OR ANXIOUS) PERSONALITY DISORDER (APD)
BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER (BPD)
OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE PERSONALITY DISORDER (OCPD)
SCHIZOTYPAL PERSONALITY DISORDER
ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER (ASPD)
HIDE AND SEEK
A person with ASPD is impulsive, aggressive and easily annoyed. Symptoms often arouse in early childhood- aggression towards people and animals, destruction of property and possessions accompanied by deceitfulness, theft and the serious violation of rules. In adulthood, they continue to engage in behaviours that harm others. Despite the harm they cause most of them don't feel remorse or guilt. In fact, many are constitutionally incapable of such emotions. They may understand that others regard their actions as deplorable and adjust their demeanour to give the impression that they regret what they've done. But inwardly they almost never do. However, if the ASD is high IQ individual the same behavioural tendencies are unfolded in a domain of interpersonal manipulations. They are still violent and aggressive but they use these dark sensations as a catalyst to manipulate and defraud others rather than fight them with their fists. Some of them are extremely intelligent and charming. Their combination of charm, recklessness and indifference to others creates an extremely manipulative and potentially dangerous person.
They have trouble holding a job. Even if they appear successful their resume reflects lots of different jobs held in quick succession.
AVOIDANT (OR ANXIOUS) PERSONALITY DISORDER (APD)
RUN AND HIDE
They avoid socializing for fear of being rejected, ridiculed, saw as a freak show everyone is pointing at. They protect themselves by self-isolation, keeping themselves safe in a freaking bubble called a comfort zone. But the result is soul-breaking. They become lonely. Drinking alcohol and listening to sad music is what occupies them. They don't even text their friends back. When in public they are trying to be invisible out of fear of criticism or disapproval. They think people will label them i.e. recognize their weaknesses and make them public. So if they really have drinking problems they are afraid that somehow even the complete strangers will figure that out. They practically avoid everyone-even family members and closest friends because they dwell on thoughts of being found out and rejected. They don't have relationships for years because of the fear of rejection. Some do dating but nothing "official" since they would have to get out of a shell and admit they are still living with their parents, jobless and it simply doesn't match the socially acceptable standards. Who wants to be with such a person? Their self-perception is skewed, even when they are funny or lovable they seem themselves as total failures. They think their grandpa or grandma look far better than they do. For them, people are walking judgements. Avoiding work or social activities is also a common trait in APD as well as reluctance to engage in new activities for fear of being ridiculed, rejected, embarrassed.
BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER (BPD)
HASTE MAKES WASTE
During BPD episodes they are disgusted with themselves, feeling ugly, useless, worthless. The strange part of the BPD is that it comes and goes. It triggers depression. A person feels like a complete failure. They are drowning in self-pity. Crying. Having suicidal thoughts. And then, all of a sudden, everything comes back to normal. They are actually mad at themselves for letting the anxiety feelings overcome their perception of their real self. Many of them are highly successful and productive and BPD episode is a stumbling block on that way to success. Some of them encourage themselves that felling down is temporary. And it works, which is a great thing. Until next episode occurs. That's why it's not a self-help curing treatment that helps but is still important. People around them also have to deal with their condition, because they need help and support. On the other hand some people can't see themselves as future parents out of fear that their children will be also BPD. They don't see themselves as successful workers either. On the one hand they are very dependent and clinging, and on the other they are rapidly enraged and rejecting. Switching Emotional pattern is what "defines" this disorder most. They love you one day, hate you the very next day. So emotional instability is a predominant trait of BPD. Sometimes, if abandoned they are writing blood notes to get that person back. Binge eating, using drugs and alcohol, reckless driving are also associated with BDP. When under the great stress they may have paranoid or psychotic experience after which they usually don't remember what happened.
OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE PERSONALITY DISORDER (OCPD)
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING PERFECT
Preoccupation with order, perfectionism and control. Like with all other personality disorders OCPD is characterized by a long-standing pattern of a person's experience of themselves or the way they relate to others. Perfectionism interferes with their daily life so the procrastination is usually an ending result. Then comes the downward spiral. The more they procrastinate, the more they get upset, anxious and angry with themselves. They can be also inflexible about the matters of ethics, morality and values in general. Delegating tasks is the scariest part because only they can do it perfectly. Being rigid and stubborn in relationships is also a common trait in OCPD. They are not obsessed with their mistakes only but with the other people's ones too. And if things are not lined up to their expectation something bad is going to happen.
Note: OCPD is different from the obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), which is a form of behaviour rather than a type of personality.
SCHIZOTYPAL PERSONALITY DISORDER
ASK QUESTIONS!
And listen. You may be amazed at their knowledge and charm. A schizotypal personality disorder is closely related to the dissociative thinking process. They made arguments in a conversation that make sense only to them. The the best way to follow them is to ask for explanation. Most times they will not be offended, but happy instead. They wish more people would ask questions, for sure. They usually just get blank stares of confusion and shock. They do have emotions but they can express them most of the times. In fact their facial expression hardly ever follow their feelings. They have to deliberately control their face muscles in order to convey a feeling. Again, ask questions about how they feel, otherwise there is no "facial" answer. Even though they find social situations scarry and feel anxious about being misunderstood they love to interact with people especially when their favourite subject is brought up. .They may be eccentric too in a way they dress for example. They can believe in aliens, 6th sense, unexplainable powers, paranoid thoughts. In some cases answering phone calls or doors terrifies them as well as their suicidal thoughts or hallucinations. Sometimes, they feel they can predict future events especially bad ones having puzzling sensations. Or they can guess evil thoughts in other people's head. The age onset is early adulthood. their social anxiety is rooted in paranoia, rather than negative thoughts about themselves. So SPD is not the social anxiety in the truest sense. It can be but not imperatively an onset of schizophrenia.
Each of these five personality disorders is triggered by different events and based on different biological and environmental factors, but here are the most common ones covering all five Personality disorders.
Genetics:
Environment:
Childhood trauma:
Substance abuse:
The treatment that's best for you is determined by your particular personality disorder, its intensity and your life circumstances. Often, a team approach is needed to ensure all of your psychological and social needs are met. Since personality disorders are deep-rooted and long-term, treatment may require few months.
During CBT with a mental health professional, you will be educated about your condition and talk about your moods, feelings, thoughts and behaviours. CBT helps you coping with stress and managing your disorder.
The CBT is so successful in treating personality disorder because it's aim is to change one's thought patterns in order to change the unwanted behaviour.
Since Personality Disorders are caused by the largest numbers of symptoms each PD is to be treated with one or several CBT techniques such are:
Writing down moods and thoughts, their intensity, time of occurrence, triggers, responses. It helps your therapist have the better insight into your condition. Hence he will know how to best cope with them.
Becoming aware of thinking distortions that hold you back and that you are most vulnerable to.
Starting to realize the causes that make you believe in all those vulnerable thoughts and beliefs. Changing these beliefs is the most important part.
Exposure to bodily sensations that makes you anxious so as to trigger the response and harmful beliefs related to sensations. The sensations are deliberately maintained so as to get the patient aware of new helpful beliefs.
It educates the family on the Personality disorders so as to help them cope with and support their PD family member.
Several types of psychiatric medications can help with various personality disorder symptoms:
Please do not self-diagnose yourself! Like googling until you beat your brains out. If suspicious after gathering relevant information from relevant sources go and see a medical Profesional the most important part is to be properly diagnosed. Otherwise, you will be spending your time and effort on treatments or medications that do not help.
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