Personality

Question 1

Personality

Answer 1

• Character: unique combination of traits / tendencies that influence our individual thoughts feelings, and behaviours (think and act in somewhat predictable ways)
• flexible not deterministic (different reactions in different circumstances, learning from experience to alter thinking/behaviour)
• becomes a disorder when personality is too rigid and extreme (inhibits reasonable context-based behaviour and ability to learn/grow from experience)

Question 2

The “narrative spectrum”

Answer 2

Different people can be characterized by their tendency towards narrative perception
→ the tendency to perceive narrative structures or tropes as operating in real life
→ attuned to patterns of narrative and characterization in fiction; start to expect it in our real lives

Question 3

Categorical personality

Answer 3

• Each person has a particular type of personality which consists of a specific/consistent cluster of traits (you either belong in the category or you don’t)
  → convenient for treatment: can make a categorical decision about whether a client requires treatment/ which treatment

Question 4

Personality disorder costs

Answer 4

• Impaired role status: less likely to be employed, married etc.
  → impaired functioning with those roles
• some associated with criminality, violence, substance abuse, social issues

Question 5

Cluster A

Answer 5

• odd-eccentric: paranoid, schizoid schizotypal (symptom similar to schizophrenia but milder)
  → tendency towards paranoia, social withdrawal, and maladaptive/peculiar thinking
• more common in people with family history of schizophrenia or affective/mood disorders
• schizoid personality discoverer (most common):
  → avoidance of relationships (preference for being alone) and lack of emotional expression
  → treatment consists of CBT/psychotherapy (those affected are reluctant about treatment)
  → explanations include psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioural

Question 6

Cluster B

Answer 6

• Dramatic-erratic: antisocial, borderline, histrionic, narcissistic
  → dramatic, emotional, and chaotic behaviour which disrupts their relationships with others
• antisocial personality disorder (most common)
  → lack of empathy, repeated violation / disregard for the rights of others
  → common behaviours include lying, recklessness, lack of commitment, impulsivity and verbal/physical aggression
  → frequently comorbid with substance use and other addictions
  → closely linked to criminal behaviour
  → explanations include psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioural, and biological
  → no reliable treatment available

Question 7

Cluster C

Answer 7

• Anxious-fearful: avoidant, dependent, obsessive-compulsive
  → leads to behavioural inhibition and a refusal to take on responsibilities
• patients with anxiety disorder are more likely to have a comorbid cluster C personality disorder
• obsessive-compulsive personality disorder
  → preoccupation with perfection, order, and control (inhibits flexibility, openness, and efficiency)
  → tendency to complete tasks slowly or not at all; focus on details at the expense of the activity’s intended purpose / outcome
  → inability to be satisfied by one’s own work paired with an inability to trust the work to anyone else
  → tends to be behaviourally inhibited (shallow relationships, reluctance to make decisions, stinginess with money)
  → explanations are psychodynamic or cognitive-behavioural
  → treatments include CBT and psychoanalysis (recognize insecurities, accept limitations, challenge thought patterns)

Question 8

Dimensional personality

Answer 8

• Personality traits are independent of each other and vary along a spectrum (a person can land at any point along the spectrum)
• the five factor model (big five): openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, neuroticism
  → individuals either self-rate themselves or are rated by someone they know (each scale is scored independently)
  → problems arise because the questions are simple, relational, and non-conditional

Question 9

The “ dark triad”

Answer 9

• Consists of three dimensional scales:
  → narcissism (self-absorbed entitled, gratification-seeking), psychopathy (insensitive, antisocial, remorseless), and machiavellianism (manipulative, motivated by personal gain, deceitful)

Question 10

Dimensional classifications of disorders

Answer 10

• Personality disorders often overlap or ore difficult to distinguish (co- morbidity is common)
• personality disorders should be perceived as continuous with ordinary personality traits (regular traits at their extremes)
• abandoning a categorical approach will allow clinicians to deal with symptoms and behaviours, rather than attempting to treat the patient’s personality profile (resistant to change)

Question 11

Alternative models of personality disorders (AMPD)

Answer 11

• Proposed scheme that may replace the categorical classifications currently used in the DSM
  → five clusters of problematic traits: negative affect, detachment, antagonism, disinhibition, psychoticism (traits identified with specific disorders, traits are rated on a scale, number of disorders narrowed down)