Personality Disorders Flashcards
Q: How does the DSM-5 define personality disorders?
A: The DSM-5 defines personality disorders as an enduring pattern of inner experience and behavior that deviates markedly from cultural expectations, is pervasive, inflexible, begins in adolescence or early adulthood, is stable over time, and causes distress or impairment.
Q: What are Cluster A personality disorders characterized by?
A: Cluster A personality disorders involve odd or eccentric behaviors, including paranoid, schizoid, and schizotypal personality disorders.
Q: What behaviors are typical of Cluster B personality disorders?
A: Cluster B personality disorders are characterized by dramatic, emotional, or erratic behaviors, such as antisocial, borderline, histrionic, and narcissistic personality disorders.
Q: What are the features of Cluster C personality disorders?
A: Cluster C personality disorders involve anxiety and fearfulness, including avoidant, dependent, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorders.
Q: Can personality disorders be diagnosed in individuals under 18 years old?
A: With one exception, personality disorders can be diagnosed in individuals under 18 if symptoms have been present for at least one year.
Q: What is the exception to diagnosing personality disorders in individuals under 18?
A: Antisocial Personality Disorder cannot be diagnosed in individuals under 18 years of age.
Q: What are the diagnostic criteria for Paranoid Personality Disorder?
A: A pervasive pattern of distrust and suspiciousness, interpreting others’ motives as malevolent, with at least four of seven symptoms such as unjustified suspicions of exploitation or harm.
Q: Describe Schizoid Personality Disorder according to DSM-5 criteria.
A: A pervasive pattern of detachment from social relationships and restricted emotional expression, evidenced by symptoms like preferring solitary activities and having few close relationships.
Q: What are the key features of Schizotypal Personality Disorder?
A: Social and interpersonal deficits, eccentric behavior, and distortions in cognition and perception, with at least five of nine symptoms such as odd beliefs, unusual perceptions, and excessive social anxiety.
Q: What are the diagnostic criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD)?
A: A pervasive pattern of disregard for others’ rights since age 15, with symptoms like deceitfulness, impulsivity, aggression, and irresponsibility. Requires a history of conduct disorder before age 15.
Q: What distinguishes Antisocial Personality Disorder from other personality disorders?
A: APD involves a persistent disregard for societal norms and the rights of others, often accompanied by criminal behavior and a lack of remorse, typically beginning in adolescence.
Q: What challenges are associated with treating Antisocial Personality Disorder?
A: Treatment challenges include individuals’ lack of insight into their condition, reluctance to seek help, and limited effectiveness of interventions. Cognitive-behavioral and group therapies may help reduce symptoms and behaviors.
Q: What are the diagnostic criteria for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)?
A: A pervasive pattern of instability in interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, with at least five of nine symptoms such as frantic efforts to avoid abandonment, unstable relationships, identity disturbance, impulsivity, and recurrent suicidal behavior.
Q: Describe Linehan’s dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD).
A: DBT includes group skills training focusing on emotion regulation, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, and mindfulness; individual therapy to apply skills in daily life; and phone coaching for support between sessions, addressing emotion dysregulation in BPD.
Q: What are the diagnostic criteria for Histrionic Personality Disorder?
A: A pervasive pattern of excessive emotionality and attention seeking, evidenced by at least five of eight symptoms such as discomfort when not the center of attention, seductive behavior, shallow emotions, and impressionistic speech.
