Personality disorders are pervasive chronic psychological disorders, which can greatly affect a person's life. Having a personality disorder can negatively affect one's work, family and social life. Personality disorders exists on a continuum so they can be mild to more severe in terms of how pervasive and to what extent a person exhibits the features of a particular personality disorder. While most people can live pretty normal lives with mild personality disorders, during times of increased stress or external presures, the symptoms of the personality disorder will gain strength and begin to seriously interfere with their emotional and pshchological functioning.
Those with a personality disorder posess several distinct psychological features including disturbances in self-image; ability to have successful interpersonal relationships; appropriateness of range of emotion; and difficulty possessing proper impulse control. These disturbances come together to create a pervasive pattern of behavior and inner experience that is quitedifferent from the norms of the individual's culture and that often tend to be expressed in behaviors that appear more dramatic than what society considers usual. Therefore, those with a personality disorder often experience conflicts with other people and vise-versa. There are ten different types of personality disorders that exist, which all have various emphases.
There are as many potential causes of personality disorders as there are people who suffer from them. They can be caused by a combination of parental upbringing, one's personality and social development, as well as genetic and biological factors. Research has not narrowed down the cause to any factor at this time. We do know, however, that these disorders will most often manifest themselves during increased times of stress and interpersonal difficulties in one's life. Therefore, treatment often focuses on increasing one's coping mechanisms and interpersonal skills.
We have developed the information here to act as a comprehensive guide to help you better understand the various personality disorders and find out more information about them on your own.
By reading the DSM-IV's definition of personality disorders, it seems that these conditions are not treatable. However, when individuals choose to be in control of their lives and are committed to changing their lives and are committed to changing their lives, healing is possible. Therapy and medications can help, but it is the individual's decision to take accountability for his or her own life that makes the difference. To heal, individuals must first have the desire to change in order to break through that enduring pattern of a personality disorder. Individuals need to want to gain insight into and face their inner experience and behavior. This involves changing their thinking--about themselves, their relationships, and the world. This also involves changing their behavior, for that chich is not acted upon is not learned. Then, with a support system (e.g., therapy, self-help groups, medication), they can free themselves from their imprisoned life.
Author: Linda Lebelle
There are ten types of personality disorders, they are: