Ch. 12

Question 1

Paranoid Personality Disorder

Answer 1

1. Pervasive suspiciouness: tendency to interpret other people’s behavior as deliberately threatening or demeaning
2. Unlikely to seek treatment”

Question 2

Schizoid Personality Disorder

Answer 2

1. Social isolation is cardinal feature
2. Described as a loner or an eccentric, lacking interest in social relationships
3. Emotions usually appear shallow or blunted (less so than in schizophrenia)
4. Rarely experience strong anger, joy, or sadness. Appear distant and aloof. Indifferent to criticism or praise
5. Have better contact with reality than schizophrenia
6. May show strong feelings for animals than humans

Question 3

Schizotypal Personality Disorder

Answer 3

“1. Persistent difficulties in forming close relationships with others

2. Lack of a coherent sense of self (distorted self-concept or lack self-direction)
3. Lack capacity for empathy - lack of understand for how their own behavior affects others or misinterpreting other people’s behaviors or motives
4. May be especially anxious in social situations, even when interacting with familiar people
5. Social anxiety is often linked to paranoid thinking rather than to concerns about being rejected
6. Often have co-occuring disorders such as major depression, anxiety disorder, and increased risk of suicide”

Question 4

Antisocial Personality Disorder

Answer 4

“1. Antisocial in that they often violate the rights of others, disregard social norms, and break the law

2. Lack of concern or callous indifference regarding others
3. Tend to be impulsive and fail to live up to the commitments of others
4. Often show superficial charm
5. Little, if any anxiety when faced with threatening situations and lack feelings of guilt or remorse for wrongdoing
6. Punishment has little to no effect on their behavior”

Question 5

Prevalene of APD

Answer 5

“1. More common in men

2. 1% in women, 6% in women”

Question 6

2 Dimensions of APD

Answer 6

“1. Personality dimension: superficial char, selfishness, lack of empathy, callous and remorseless use of others and disregard for others’ feelings and welfare
2. Behavioral dimension: adoption of a generally unstable and antisocial lifestyle- including frequent problems with the law, poor unemployment history, and unstable relationships”

Question 7

4 factors of APD

Answer 7

“1. Interpersonal factor: superficiality, grandiosity, and deceitfulness

2. Affective factor: lack of remorse and empathy, and a failure to accept responsibility for misbehavior
3. Lifestyle factor: impulsivity and lack of goals
4. Antisocial factor: poor behavioral control and antisocial behavior”

Question 8

Borderline Personality Disorder

Answer 8

“1. Deep sense of emptiness, unstable self-image, history of turbulent and unstable relationships, dramatic mood changes, impulsivity, difficult regulating negative emotions, self-injurious behavior, recurrent suicidal behaviors

2. Cannot tolerate being alone and make desperate attempts to avoid feelings of abandonment
3. Feelings towards others are intense and shifting (extreme adulation when needs are met to loathing when they feel scorned)
4. Tend to view others as all good or all bad and abruptly shift their views”

Question 9

Other Tendecies of BPD

Answer 9

“1. Often act on impulse which is often self-destructive

2. Self-mutiliation be attempts at controlling negative feelings
3. 3 in 4 make suicide attempts and 1 in 10 are successful
4. Women tend to show more inwardly directed aggression, Men show more outward forms
5. Suicide attempts or self-injurious behavior may be a desire to escape from troubling emotions”

Question 10

Diagnosis of BPD

Answer 10

Usually in early adulthood

Question 11

Splitting

Answer 11

Psychoanalytic term: abrupt shifts in feeling (idealization and outrage) or inability to reconcile the positive and negative aspects of one’s experience of oneself and others

Question 12

Histrionic Personality Disorder characterized by…

Answer 12

1. Emotionality and an overwhelming need to be the center of attention;
2. dramatic and emotional, but their actions seem shallow, exaggerated and volatile
3. intolerant of delays of gratification; self centered; 4.despite outward successes, they lack self-esteem and strive to impress others to boost their self-worth

Question 13

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Answer 13

1. Inflated or grandiose sense of themselves;
2. Extreme need for admiration; They brag about accomplishments and expect to be showered with praise;
3. Self-absorbed and lack empathy;
4. Less melodramatic than histrionic personality; Their relationships are more stable than borderline personality disorder
5. preoccupation with fantasies of success and power, ideal love or recognition for beauty
6. extremely sensitive to slightest hint of rejection or criticism=narcissistic injuries

Question 14

Three categories of Personality Disorders

Answer 14

Cluster A: odd and eccentric
Cluster B: dramatic, erratic and emotional
Cluster C: Anxious or Fearful

Question 15

Avoidant Personality Disorder

Answer 15

1. Terrified of rejection/criticism that they are unwilling to enter into relationships (without ardent reassurances of acceptance)
2. affects 2.4% of general population
3. they do have interest in and feelings of warmth toward other people
4. often comorbid with social anxiety disorder

Question 16

Dependent Personality Disorder

Answer 16

1. have an excessive need to be taken care of
2. overly submissive, clingy and extreme fear of separation/rejection
3. seek advice for smallest decisions; and for most decisions
4. turn down challenges; avoid positions of responsibility
5. feel inadequate and helpless to take action in unhealthy relationships

Question 17

Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder

Answer 17

1. Excessive orderliness, perfectionism, rigidity, difficulty coping with ambiguity, difficulty expressing feelings, meticulous work habits
2. unlike people with OCD, people with OCPD do not have outright obsessions or compulsions
3. preoccupied with perfection and often don’t complete their work
4. impairs relationships because they insist on doing things their way rather than compromising

Question 18

Freudian Theory: abnormal behaviors including personality disorders stem from…

Answer 18

the Oedipus complex

resolution of the Oedipus complex is central to development of adult personality

Question 19

Hans Kohut’s theory: Self Psychology

Answer 19

1. psychodynamic but disagreed with Freud; what matters most is how the self develops (self-esteem, values and a cohesive/realistic sense of self)
2. early childhood involves a normal stage of healthy narcissism
3. Lack of parental empathy and support sets the stage for pathological narcissism-they fail to develop a sturdy sense of self-esteem

Question 20

Otto Kernberg

Answer 20

1. Psychodynamic theorists
2. views borderline personality as a failure in early childhood to develop a sense of constancy and unity in one’s image of oneself and others
3. Those with BPD cannot synthesize both positive and negative elements of themselves and others into complete, stable wholes
4. parents, even excellent parents, fail to meet all their children’s needs-unstable parental image causes a pre-oedipal fixation