Personality Disorder Flashcards
What is personality?
Collection of characteristic or traits that you collect as you grow that makes each of us individual.
They dictate how we think and feel about things and are usually shaped by our late teens or early twenties
What things help to shape personality?
Neurophysiology
Genetics
Environment / Childhood experiences (trauma, violence and attachment issue)
How does ICD-10 define personality disorder? (3)
Abnormal, persistent or extreme variation away from the normal range of one or more personality traits that are causing the INDIVIDUAL/SOCIETY to SUFFER
It does NOT result from organic damage to the brain OR another mental health disorder
Person must be OVER AGE 18
What are some sub-types of personality disorder according to the ICD-10?
Paranoid Schizoid Dissocial Emotionally unstable Histrionic Anankastic Anxious Dependent
What features are seen in paranoid personality disorder?
Someone who is:
- suspicious
- hyper-sensitive (feels like people are attacking their character)
- mistrustful of people (won’t confide in friends)
- jealous
- resentful and bears grudges
- conspirational beliefs and hidden meaning
Again this should be in the absence of other mental health conditions - however, someone is massively more likely to get other mental health morbidities with paranoid PD
What are some features of someone with schizoid personality disorder?
These people often
- prefer being alone
- don’t get enjoyment from relationships with others
- low libido
- indifferent to praise or criticism
- emotional coldness
What are some features of dissocial or antisocial PD?
Whose it are common in?
- More common in men
- multiple contacts with law - failure to keep to social norms (laws)
- Deception (repeated lying)
- Impulsivity
- Aggression and irritation
- Reckless regard for safety of self or others
- Irresponsibility - inability to keep job
- Lack of remorse/guilt (don’t care when they’ve upset)
- Transient relationships
- Willing to hurt others if it helps them
What are the 2 types of emotionally unstable personality disorder? (features)
either borderline or impulsive type
BORDERLINE
- chronic feeling of emptiness
- unstable relationships (things are either GREAT or AWFUL)
- terrified of abandonment (take measures such as suicide threats to overcome this)
IMPULSIVE
-Explosive outbursts in someone who doesn’t think ahead or consider the consequences of their actions
What are some features of histrionic PD?
- Attention seeking (tells dramatised made up stories)
- Leads to lots of superficial relationships
- Inappropriate sexual seductiveness
- Need to be the centre of attention
- Suggestibility
- Impressionistic speech lacking detail
- Rapidly shifting emotions
What is the first line treatment for personality disorders?
How long does it last?
Psychological therapies: DIALECTICAL BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY (DBT)
-Form of CBT that helps people to recognise their TRIGGERS and REACTIONS and then helps them to implement strategies to for coping with specific types of event.
-lasts around 2 years (GROUP AND ONE-ON-ONE)
What are components of dialectal behaverioal therapy?
DICE
- Distress tolerance-tolerate their stress better
- Interpersonal effectiveness-learn skills for better relationships
- Cognitive mindfulness-learn mindfulness to facilitate change
- Emotional regulation-learn to label their emotions and manage them better
Helps people to identify their TRIGGERS and REACTIONS, address them and deal with them
What are some features of Schizotypal PD?
- Ideas of reference (differ from delusions in that some insight is retained)
- Odd beliefsand magical thinking
- Unusual perceptual disturbances
- Paranoid ideation and suspiciousness
- Odd, eccentric behaviour
- Lack of close friendsother than family members
- Inappropriate affect
- Odd speech without being incoherent
