Chapter 6 - Personality Disorders (Midterm 2 material) Flashcards
Personality Disorder (text)
Types of enduring patterns of inner experiences that deviate markedly from the expectations of the individual’s culture, are pervasive and inflexible, and lead to distress or impairment
Ego syntonic
Behavior feelings that are perceived as natural or compatible parts of the self
Ego dystonic
Behaviour or feelings that are perceived to be foreign or alien to ones self-identity
What might be diagnosed as a personality disorder?
when these behaviour patterns become so inflexible or maladaptive that they cause significant personal distress or impair functioning in the social or occupational realms
General DSM-5 Diagnostic Criteria - personality disorder
• A. An enduring pattern of inner experience and behaviour that deviates markedly from the expectations of the individual’s culture. This pattern is manifested in two (or more) of the following areas:
– (1) cognition (i.e., ways of perceiving and interpreting self, other people, and events)
– (2) affectivity (i.e., the range, intensity, lability, and appropriateness of emotional response)
– (3) interpersonal functioning
– (4) impulse control
• B. The enduring pattern is inflexible and pervasive across a broad range of personal and social situations.
• C. The enduring pattern leads to clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
• D. The pattern is stable and of long duration and its onset can be traced back at least to adolescence or early adulthood.
• E. The enduring pattern is not better accounted for as a manifestation or consequence of another mental disorder.
• F. The enduring pattern is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition (e.g., head trauma)
The Three Clusters
- Odd eccentric behaviour “mad”
a. Paranoid
b. Schizoid
c. Schizotypal - Dramatic, emotional, impulsive “Bad”
a. Borderline
b. Antisocial
c. Narcissistic
d. Histrionic - Anxious, fearful, avoidant “Sad”
a. Avoidant
b. Dependent
c. Observe-compulsive
- Odd eccentric behaviour “mad”
a. Paranoid
b. Schozoid
c. Schizotypal
- Dramatic, emotional, impulsive “Bad”
a. Borderline
b. Antisocial
c. Narcissistic
d. Histrionic
- Anxious, fearful, avoidant “Sad”
a. Avoidant
b. Dependent
c. Obsessive-compulsive
-Important to keep in mind
-Many (if not most) PD Dx are “PDNOS” - Personality Disorder Not Otherwise Specified
They may fluctuate in their intensity
-Make no mistake about it, these can be highly debilitating disorders. they’re not just somebody choosing to be nasty (with the possible expectation of AsPD)
-Cluster A
- personality Disorder characterized by odd or eccentric behaviour (“mad”)
- people who are perceived as odd or eccentric.
People with personality disorders tend to view their traits as
Ego syntonic
People with anxiety disorders / depressive view themselves as
Ego dystonic
Cluster B
- personality disorders characterized by dramatic, emotional or erratic behavior
- behavior which is overly dramatic, emotional, or erratic
Cluster C
- personality disorder characterized by anxious or fearful behaviours (“Sad”)
- often appear anxious or fearful
-Paranoid Personality Disorder
-type of personality disorder characterized by persistent suspiciousness by the motives of others, but not the points of holding clear-cut delusions
Core features of Paranoid Personality Disorder
- suspiciousness without due cause
- preoccupations with founded concerns over lack of loyalty of friends, spouse, and family
- Emotionally closed – reluctant to confide or ‘open up’
- Interpretive basis that promotes perception of innocuous content as threatening
- grudging
- defining trait is pervasive suspiciousness
-unlikely to seek treatment since they believe that others are causing their problems and not themselves
Schizoid Personality Disorder
- personality disorder characterized by a personal lack of interest in social relationships, flattened affects and social withdrawal
- rarely express emotions and are distant and aloof
- but emotions of people with schizoid personalities are not as shallow or blunted as they are in people with schizophrenia
-characterized by detachment from social relationships and a restricted range of emotional expression
Core features of schizoid personality disorder
– No interest in, or enjoyment of, close relationships
– Chronic loner
– No interest in sex
- Seldom participates in recreational activities
– Unaffected by praise or criticism
– Emotionally cold, detached, flat
-Social Isolation is the key feature
Schizotypal Personality Disorder
- personality disorder characterized by eccentricities or oddities of thought and behaviour but throughout clearly psychotic features. Like Sz in many respects but without the profound impairment in reality testing
- personality disorder characterized by acute discomfort in close relationships, cognitive or perceptual distortions, and eccentricities of behavior
Core features of schizotypal disorder
– Ideas of reference – Odd beliefs / magical thinking (not just superstitions) – Odd perceptual experiences – Peculiar thinking and speech – Suspicious/paranoid - Social isolation (other than family) – Persistent social anxiety
There is a misunderstanding that
you cannot diagnose before the age 18, antisocial personality disorder is the only one you cannot
Ideas of reference
Form of delusional thinking in which a persons reads personal meaning into the behavior of others or external events that are completely independent of the person
Antisocial Personality Disorder (and psychopathy) (APD)
- type of personality disorder characterized by chronic pattern of antisocial and irresponsible behaviour and lack of remorse
- personality disorder characterized by a chronic pattern or disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others
Core features of APD
- failure to conform to social and legal norms
- lying / conning
- impulsivity and short sightedness in planning
- irritability / aggressiveness, fighting
- recklessness with self and others
- irresponsibility
- lack of remorse
- note: MUST be 18 and have shown signs of Conduct Disorder before 15 years of age
- most striking feature about them are their low levels of anxiety in threatening situations and their lack of guilt or remorse following wrongdoing
- lack of employment
- history of alcoholism
Psychopathy
V-Not a separate DSM PD
- an extreme case of ASPD - type of personality pattern characterized by affective and interpersonal traits, such as shallow emotions, selfishness, arrogance, superficial charm, deceitfulness, manipulativeness, irresponsibility, sensation-seeking, and a lack of empathy, anxiety, and remorse, combined with persistent, violations of social norms, a socially deviant and nomadic lifestyle and impulsiveness
Facts about APD and psychopathy
- Not all criminals show sings of psychopathy
- not all ASPD patients are psychopaths either!
-Some controversial around the notion of a successful psychopath
-must distinguish between Factor I and Factor II PCL-R features
-Appreciate that one can have strong (Factor I) features without being a psychopath
(Factor 1: Interpersonal/Affective; Factor 2: Lifestyle/Antisocial),
-may be nominally law-abiding and successful in their chosen occupations, but still show callous disregard for the interests and feeling of others
- Antisocial personality disorder cuts across all racial and ethnic groups
- Researchers find no evidence of ethnic or racial differences in the rates of the disorder
- however it is more common in people with lower SES
-There are several psycho-physiological and biological factors that are related to antisocial personality and psychopathy
-lack of emotional responsiveness
- the craving-for-stimulation model
- lack of emotional response in order to maintain a optimum level of arousal
- exaggerated levels of cravings for stimulation
-lack of restraint on impulsivity
- limbic abnormalities
- less activity in the brain that regulates emotions / emotional responses