Chapter 16 - Personality Disorders Flashcards
What is personality?
Characteristic way of responding to, perceiving, and thinking about one’s environment - all-encompassing
Why is personality disorder diagnosis so unreliable?
Lack of consistency
- Uncertainty if it is a trait or disorder
- Overlap in symptoms of various personality disorders
- Comorbidity and confusion with other disorders
How is the general criteria for personality disorders changing in the future DSM?
Movement away from social deviance and more toward impairment of functioning, more emphasis on dimensional approach
What does Cluster A consist of in personality disorders?
Odd/eccentric behaviors - schizophrenigenic
- Paranoid
- Schizoid
- Schizotypal
What is paranoid personality disorder?
Undue suspiciousness, hypersensitivity, expect to be exploited
- Assume everyone has hidden agenda
- Appear cold and without humor
- Seldom seek help - cannot be vulnerable
- Least likely of personality disorders to seek help
Prevalence of paranoid personality disorder
Rate higher in males
What is schizoid personality disorder?
Social withdrawal ("loners"), reclusive, lack close warm relationships, isolation
*KEY: don't mind lack of relationships
*Seem detached from environment, lack humor, internally tuned
*Self-absorbed and may seem absent-minded, easy to forget
Typically can remain functionalWhat is schizotypal personality disorder?
- Odd behavior, thinking, speech
- Highly superstitious - “magical thinking”
- Symptoms may be similar to schizophrenia, not as severe
- Lack social skills - shallow emotions
- Often suspicious of others
- Significantly higher risk of developing schizophrenia
What does Cluster B consist of in personality disorders?
Emotional or erratic behaviors, seeking attention, unpredictable behaviors
- Histrionic
- Narcissistic
- Borderline
- Antisocial
What is histrionic personality disorder?
- Primary goal: attention (being in spotlight, center of attention)
- Very dramatic, emotive, may seem vain and immature
- KEY: stormy relationships, self-centered, manipulative
- Superficial processing of information, self-monitor based on others’ reactions
- May behave and dress seductively to get attention
What is narcissistic personality disorder?
- Extreme sense of self-importance - need to feel superior
- Expect and demand constant special attention
- Lack empathy and compassion
- Fragile self-esteem
- Grandiose fantasies about self
- Don’t develop deep relationships
- Need constant praise and recognition
Narcissistic personality disorder prevalence?
Higher in males, business majors
What is borderline personality disorder?
- Central characteristics: emotionally unstable, intense relationships
- Parasuicide - suicide attempts and/or self-harming tendencies
- Emotion dysregulation
- Abandonment issues
- “Splitting” - extremes in thinking, go from idealizing to hating
- Clingy dependency
What does borderline personality disorder overlap with
- Schizotypal PD - bizarre behaviors
- Antisocial PD - impulsive behaviors
- Narcissistic PD - self-focused and hypersensitive
- Histrionic PD - dramatic attention-seeking, manipulative
What is antisocial personality disorder?
- Ego-centric, grandiose, superficial
- Lack remorse or empathy - “callousness”, “cold/calculating”
- See others as objects
- Impulsive, irresponsible
Physiological differences in antisocial personality disorder
Slower alpha waves -> lower arousal levels
Prevalence of antisocial personality disorder
Significantly more males
Prevalence of borderline personality disorder
2/3 of those diagnosed are female
Recent research on antisocial personality disorder
Antisocial PD people have particularly strong BAS - they go after what they want, and don’t care about avoiding the consequences (low BIS in comparison)
What is BAS?
Behavioral activation system - activates towards perceived rewards
What is BIS?
Behavioral inhibition system - activates toward avoidance of perceived punishment
Primary vs secondary psychopaths
Primary: greater callousness
Secondary: show some emotions but their drive for rewards supercedes emotions
What does Cluster C consist of in personality disorders?
Anxious/fearful behaviors, similar to social phobia
- Avoidant personality disorder
- Dependent personality disorder
- Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder
What is avoidant personality disorder?
Avoids social interactions
- Low self-esteem, fears negative evaluations
- Key: Do desire relationships unlike schizoids, but they fear negative evaluations
- Appear shy and withdrawn
- Scan environment for signs of rejection
- Tend to avoid new situations
- Prevalence: equally male and female
