Personality Disorder Flashcards
What is personality disorder?
A pattern of behaviours that deviate from the ‘norm’ and are harmful
Causes
Childhood trauma (Manchester study)
What is the likelihood of people with childhood trauma to develop BPD?
13x more likely (Manchester study)
Types of trauma
Physical neglect Emotional abuse Physical abuse Sexual abuse Emotional neglect
How are they qualified?
Mild
Moderate
Severe
Then split into clusters
What is cluster A?
Odd/eccentric ‘weird’
Paranoid, schizoid, schizotypal
Cluster B
Dramatic/impulse ‘wild’
Antisocial, narcissistic, histrionic, borderline
Cluster C
Anxious/fear ‘worried’
Avoidant, dependent, obsessive-compulsive
Paranoid personality disorder symptoms
Cluster A
Suspicious
Already assumes that new people will disappoint, manipulate and deceive
Perceive others as two faced
Obsessed with the loyalty of those close to them (friends, family, partner)
Severe reactions when lied to/disappointed
Typically lack friends as they are convinced that they cause more harm than good
Describe othello syndrome
Delusional disorder
Believes their partner is cheating on them even despite evidence for the contrary
What is schizoid personality disorder? Which cluster does it come under?
Cluster A
Avoids social interaction as they don’t see any value in it
Limited interest in physical interaction (kissing, sex, hugging)
Flat affect/emotional blunting/minimal outpourings of emotion
What is schizotypal personality disorder? Which cluster does it come under?
Cluster A
Awkward individual with few friends despite wanting them
Magical thinking, randomly linking things e.g. seeing a cat and thinking something
Conspiracy theory enthusiast
Adopts ideas of destiny / ideas of reference (that everything is connected)
Overconfident and self-centred
Can’t guage other people’s perceptions of themselves
What is antisocial personality disorder? Which cluster does it come under?
Cluster B (often referred to as psychopath)
Disregards morals and does not follow social norms
Charming, can manipulate others and can easily lie
Poor impulse control
Can hurt others
Must have origins in childhood with a history
What is egosyntonic?
Not being uncomfortable with how unwell you are; thinking it’s all fine
What is egodystonic?
When you realise you’re unwell and recognise and you need help
What is borderline personality disorder?
On the border between neurosis and psychosis
People with unstable moods that change within a matter of seconds
They latch onto one person who gives them what they’ve lacked during childhood, but any sign of this person moving away precipitates them feeling suicidal and threatening with suicide
How does the patient feel in BPD?
Empty, hollow, bored
What is histrionic personality disorder?
Overly dramatic stories
Overly flirtatious manner
Only able to sustain superficial relationships with other people
Attentions-seeking, significant emotionality with big gestures of emotional outbursts
Often disregards social cutes and etiquette
Narcisistic personality disorder
Disproportionate levels of confidence
Genuinely believes that they are more attractive, intelligent and / or talented tahn everyone else and they deserve recgonition for it
Believe that their ideas are better than everyone’s else
Overt vs covert narcissism
Overt - openly narcissistic
covert - surrounding themselves with people they perceive to be ‘less’ than them
Avoidant personality disorder
Shy and timid individual with social inhibitions
