LO1: Personality Disorders

Question 1

Personality traits, types, and disorders

Answer 1

Traits- set of qualities, stable characteristic
Type- used to describe a cluster of traits
Disorders- long-term, maladaptive thinking, ingrained and inflexible

Question 2

Internal Locus of Control

Answer 2

Sense of control over the external world
Belief that rewards and successes are due to self-efficacy
Positive internal LOC= happiness and satisfaction

Question 3

External Locus of Control

Answer 3

Blame others for what occurs
Views self as a victim of others, life, or situation
Feelings of powerlessness

Question 4

Personality Disorders History

Answer 4

19th century
1952 DSM-I
Hippocrates’ four bodily humours
Irritable and hostile (yellow bile)
Sad melancholic (black bile)
Optimistic and extroverted sanguine (blood)
Apathetic phlegmatic (phlegm)

Question 5

Epidemiology of personality disorders

Answer 5

Usually begin in adolescence and early adulthood
Unusual for children or adolescents to be diagnosed
4-15% of Canadians
Most common PD varies from culture to culture

Question 6

Morbidity and Mortality

Answer 6

Often co-occur with other mental health disorders and substance use
Some PDs mute or worsen with age
Decreased life expectancy of 9-13 years shorter

Question 7

Diathesis-Stress Model

Answer 7

Theory that explains psychopathology using systems approach
PDs emerge from multifaceted factors or biology and environment
Diathesis= genetic vulnerabilities including personality traits and temperament
Stress= physical, psychological,emotional, and social environment
Under conditions of stress some people have maladaptive personality development resulting in PDs.
Strong correlation between trauma, neglect, and other dysfunctional relationships/patterns and the development of PDs among individuals with certain personality traits and temperament.

Question 8

Personality Disorders Cluster A

Answer 8

Include individuals who appear odd or eccentric
-paranoid
-schizoid
-schizotypal

Question 9

Paranoid Personality Disorder

Answer 9

Persistent mistrust and suspicion
Believe others are out to harm, take advantage, or betray
Unsustained doubts and fears
Fast to anger

Question 10

Schizoid Personality Disorder

Answer 10

Persistent pattern of aloofness
Desire solitary activities
Don’t want or like close relationships
Lack desire
Emotionally distant and detached
Apathetic

Question 11

Schizotypal Personality Disorder

Answer 11

Persistent difficulty with relationships
Lack of close friends
Strange, eccentric, or peculiar behaviour
Magical thinking
Unusual perceptions
Under stress may decompensate, become psychotic and require hospitalization

Question 12

Magical Thinking

Answer 12

Belief that thoughts are all powerful
Thinking one is psychic
One’s ideas, thought, actions, words, or use of symbols can influence the course of events in the material world

Question 13

Personality Disorders Cluster B

Answer 13

Individuals who appear dramatic, emotional, or erratic
-antisocial
-borderline
-histrionic
-narcissistic