Personality Disorders Flashcards
The term complex emotional difficulties (CED) relates to which of the following:
1 - another term for personality disorder
2 - describes patients personalities who have personality disorder
3 - describes patients experiences who have personality disorder
3 - describes patients experiences who have personality disorder
- new services and care pathways that support people with PD and related difficulties are usually described as services/pathways for people with CED
- CED is also useful for identifying the difficulties patients with personality disorder are experiencing
What is personality?
1 - habits that a person has
2 - traits and characteristics that are innate
3 - traits and characteristics we can pick up from mirroring others
2 - traits and characteristics that are innate
- developed as we grow up
- shape us an individual
in terms of our attitudes, thoughts, feelings & behaviours
in response to different situations
Temperament related to the emotional and behavioural characteristics, essentially the ‘how’ of a behaviour. Does this relate to adults or children in psychiatry?
- children
- forms the basis of personality, which is then developed on top of this.
At what age have people generally developed their traits and personality by that will remain with them for the rest of their lives?
1 - 5-10 y/o
2 - 10-15 y/o
3 - 15-25 y/o
4 - >25 y/o
3 - 15-25 y/o
- late teens to early 20s
Which of the following is NOT a reason why personality is important in psychiatry?
1 - may be a predisposing factor to mental illness (e.g. may affect response to stressful events, which may be more likely to trigger anxiety)
2 - may affect the way that mental illness is experienced / presents (e.g. in depression
someone with obsessional personality may be more prone to rumination or
someone with emotional instability may be more prone to destructive behaviour)
3 - may affect the person’s views on and engagement with treatment
4 - may cause increased physiological stressors
4 - may cause increased physiological stressors
The big 5 model is an approach that that aims to encapsulate all different traits that make up personality into 5 factors. Which of the following is NOT one of the 5 factors?
1 - Openness to experience (novelty-seeking)
2 - Fear
3 - Conscientiousness
4 - Extraversion - introversion
5 - Agreeableness
6 - Neuroticism
2 - Fear
- each of the 5 factors cover a spectrum, and we all fall somewhere on this spectrum
Personality is said to be formed in a variety of ways. Which of the following is NOT one of the 4 most commonly cited ways in which personality is said to develop?
1 - childhood experiences
2 - psychoanalytic theories
3 - attachment theory
4 - type of birth
5 - genetics
The attachment theory proposed by Bowlby suggests that we are born with a biological drive to form attachments for survival. Do infants tend to form one or multiple attachments?
- tend to form just one attachment
The attachment theory proposed by Bowlby suggests that we are born with a biological drive to form attachments for survival. Is the primary determinant for attachment food or care and responsiveness?
care and responsiveness
The attachment theory proposed by Bowlby suggests that we are born with a biological drive to form attachments for survival. Bowlby believed that the primary attachment will form the basis for the development of all future relationships. What age did Bowlby define as the critical period this attachment occurs?
1 - 0-12 months
2 - 0-2 years
3 - 0-5 years
4 - 0-10 years
3 - 0-5 years
Which of the following styles of attachment fits the following description: care giver responds to the child’s needs and child greets caregiver with positive emotions?
1 - secure
2 - anxious (ambivalent)
3 - avoidant
4 - disorganised
1 - secure
Which of the following styles of attachment fits the following description: child is less confident in caregivers response and anxious about strangers.
1 - secure
2 - anxious (ambivalent)
3 - avoidant
4 - disorganised
2 - anxious (ambivalent)
- ambivalent means to have mixed feelings about something
Which of the following styles of attachment fits the following description: caregiver doesn’t respond to child’s needs and child feels they cannot rely on them. Child may avoid the parents.
1 - secure
2 - anxious (ambivalent)
3 - avoidant
4 - disorganised
3 - avoidant
Which of the following styles of attachment fits the following description: caregiver can appear frightened and/or frightening. Child may appear confused or disorganised about their feelings towards the caregiver.
1 - secure
2 - anxious (ambivalent)
3 - avoidant
4 - disorganised
4 - disorganised
We often share similar personalities do other people in our families. Which of the following is NOT a commonly cited cause of this?
1 - genetics
2 - birth type
3 - social learning
2 - birth type
What is the estimated genetic heritability of personality, based on monozygotic vs dizygotic twins studies?
1 - 3.5 - 50%
2 - 35-50%
3 - 20-75%
4 - >90%
2 - 35-50%
Personality traits are relatively stable throughout childhood. They do change as we gain further life experience. At what age does our personality mainly slow down in the way it changes?
1 - 30 y/o
2 - 50 y/o
3 - 70 y/o
4 - 90 y/o
1 - 30 y/o
- can still change, but slows from 30, and then even slower as we continue to age
Personality traits are relatively stable throughout childhood. They do change as we gain further life experience. which part of the brain is important in this?
1 - parietal
2 - frontal cortex
3 - temporal
4 - occipital
2 - frontal cortex
Understanding an individuals personality is important in psychiatry. How can it help us understand aetiology?
1 - helps identify attachment theory
2 - helps identify early life stressors
3 - helps identify why specific stressors may lead to psychiatric problems
3 - helps identify why specific stressors may lead to psychiatric problems
Understanding an individuals personality is important in psychiatry. How can it help us understand diagnosis?
1 - helps identify attachment theory
2 - helps identify early life stressors
3 - helps identify why specific stressors may lead to psychiatric problems
4 - personality may explain unusual features of a clinical presentation
4 - personality may explain unusual features of a clinical presentation
Which of the following is NOT important when assessing a patients personality?
1 - establish therapeutic relationship (patient/doctor interactions)
2 - understand patients health
3 - understand patient’s reaction to illness and its treatment
2 - understand patients health
- assessment of personality is important to ALL psychiatric formulations and NOT just patients with suspected personality disorders
An important questions about personality, and potentially one of the most useful questions is:
“How would your friends and family describe you as a person?”
- we are not good at describing our own personality, so useful to ask others about our personality who know the patient well
The International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision (ICD-11) have defined personality disorder. Which of the following is NOT part of this definition?
1 - marked disturbance in personality functioning, which is nearly always associated with considerable personal and social disruption.
2 - enduring
3 - manifest across a range of personal and social situations
4 - physical hallucinations
4 - physical hallucinations