A personality disorder is said to occur when personality traits become fixed and maladaptive. This impacts on the way a person thinks, behaves and interacts with other people. People with personality disorders have difficulties with getting on with other people. They can be irritable, demanding, hostile, manipulative or fearful. Additionally, many people with personality disorders have trouble dealing with everyday stresses because their coping mechanisms are inadequate.
Mild and Severe Personality Disorders
If a personality disorder is mild, then it may have little effect on a person’s family, social or work life. Unfortunately, however, symptoms generally get worse when the person is facing moderate to high levels of stress, meaning that the disorder may then seriously interfere with emotional, psychological, social and occupational functioning.
When a personality disorder is very severe, it can result in hospitalisation, poor work performance and lost productivity. A person with a severe personality disorder faces a huge emotional toll, too, with sufferers experiencing chronic unhappiness that may lead to suicide attempts in many cases.
Some people with mild personality disorders may seem to behave normally when they are not under stress, leading family and friends to mistakenly believe that a person with a personality disorder is capable of changing their behaviour. This is not true. In individuals suffering from a personality disorder, personality traits are fixed and not conductive to change. It’s not that a person won’t change their behaviour – it’s that they can’t change.
Problems with Relationships in Personality Disorders
Because people with personality disorders have difficulty adjusting to others, other people are typically forced to adjust to the person with the personality disorder. Naturally, this can cause major problems, and bitterness often arises. Furthermore, if other people don’t adjust, the person with the personality disorder can become angry, frustrated, depressed or withdrawn. Thus begins a vicious cycle. The person with the personality disorder will continue to behave in a maladaptive way until their needs are met, which prompts anger and resentment from the people around them.
Types of Personality Disorders
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) groups personality disorders into three ‘clusters’.
Cluster A includes paranoid, schizoid and schizotypal personality. These disorders are characterised by odd or eccentric behaviour.
Cluster B includes anti-social, borderline, histrionic and narcissistic personality disorders. These disorders are characterised by dramatic, emotional or erratic behaviour.
Cluster C includes avoidant, dependent and obsessive-compulsive personality disorders. These disorders are characterised by anxious or fearful behaviour.
Each of these personality disorders produces specific signs and symptoms, which may vary from person to person.
Some Facts About Personality Disorders
- Personality disorders are relatively common, affecting approximately 1 in 10 people (10%)
- Anti-social and obsessive compulsive personality disorders are more common in men.
- Borderline, dependent and histrionic personality disorders are more common in women.
- Personality disorders are lifelong conditions which typically begin in late adolescence or early childhood.
- Cluster A and B disorders typically become less intense in mid to late life, whereas cluster C disorders become more exaggerated in mid to late life.
- People with cluster B disorders are more prone to substance abuse, impulse control and suicidal behaviour.
- Personality disorders commonly overlap with other psychiatric disorders such as mood disorders and anxiety disorders.
Problems with Personality
Personality disorders affect the lives of millions of people all over the world. Those people with only mild forms of personality disorders may be able to live relatively normal lives, but the symptoms will worsen at times of stress.
For people with severe personality disorders, the picture is much less promising, and one's life – and the lives of the people around them – will be blighted by the severity of the personality disorder's symptoms/
Symptoms vary from disorder to disorder and from person to person, but in all cases there is a disruption to the ability to form relationships with other people due to the unyielding personality traits of a person with a personality disorder.
Sources:
Evans, D and Allen, H (2009), Mental Health Nursing Made Incredibly Easy, London, Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins.
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