Personality Disorders

Question 1

common characteristics of personality d/o

Answer 1

inflexible and maladaptive personality traits that may involve subjective unhappiness, that interfere with daily life across many situations, and that are stable and date back to adolescence or early adulthood

Question 2

mentalization

Answer 2

ability to reflect upon behaviors, internal states, and motivations of selves and others; may help people with healthy personalities to adjust behaviors according to situations
*may be lacking in personality disorders

Question 3

risk factors of personality d/o

Answer 3

child abuse and neglect, especially sexual abuse

physical abuse -> antisocial and impulsive behavior

Question 4

cluster A personality d/o’s

Answer 4

“weird”

paranoid, schizoid, and schizotypal

Question 5

paranoid personality disorder

Answer 5

pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of others; may be preoccupied by doubts about loyalty or trustworthiness of friends and is reluctant to confide in others; quick to react angrily to benign comments and bear grudges; suspects infidelity of spouse or partner

Question 6

paranoid personality vs paranoid schizophrenia and delusional disorder

Answer 6

vs SZ: delusions are more logical and less bizarre, lacks other sx of SZ
vs DD: paranoia is much more generalized

Question 7

schizoid personality d/o

Answer 7

pervasive detachment from social relationships and restricted emotional expression; little interest in sexual activities with others; finds pleasure in few activities; flattened affect and indifference to praise or criticism
“loners”

Question 8

schizoid personality vs autism

Answer 8

an underlying paranoid quality to desire to be alone

Question 9

schizotypal personality d/o

Answer 9

acute discomfort and capacity for close relationships and eccentric behavior; magical thinking influences behavior; suspicious or paranoid; lack of close friends; excessive social anxiety even with familiarity d/t paranoia

Question 10

cluster B personality d/o’s

Answer 10

“wild”

antisocial, borderline, histrionic, narcissistic

Question 11

antisocial personality d/o

Answer 11

disregard for and violation of others’ rights; failure to conform to social norms; deceit, impulsivity, aggressiveness; disregard for safety of self and others; irresponsibility; lack of remorse

Question 12

prevalence of antisocial personality d/o and criminal activity and substance use

Answer 12

up to 1/6 men may have this
47% men, 21% female prisoners may have it
higher prevalence in pts in substance tx programs vs general population

Question 13

borderline personality d/o

Answer 13

unstable interpersonal relationships, self-image and affect, marked impulsivity; frantic effort to avoid abandonment; “splitting”; identity disturbance; self-mutilation; marked mood reactivity, difficulty controlling anger; stress-related paranoid ideation or dissociative symptoms; very manipulative with weaknesses

Question 14

“splitting” in borderline personality

Answer 14

alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation of intense and unstable relationships

Question 15

histrionic personality disorder

Answer 15

excessive emotionality and attention seeking; uncomfortable not being center of attention; interaction with others is inappropriately sexual; shallow and shifting emotions; uses appearance to gain attention; impressionistic speech; theatrical and exaggerated expressions; suggestible; considers relationships more intimate than they are

Question 16

narcissistic personality d/o

Answer 16

grandiosity, need for admiration, lack of empathy; preoccupied w fantasy of success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love; thinks self special and requires admiration; entitled; interpersonal exploitation; lacks empathy; arrogance; often envious of others and believes others are envious of self

Question 17

cluster C personality d/o’s

Answer 17

“worried”

avoidant, dependent, obsessive-compulsive personality

Question 18

avoidant personality d/o

Answer 18

social inhibition, feels inadequate, hypersensitive to criticism; avoids occupational activity involving social contact; unwilling to be social unless sure of being liked; views self as socially inept or unappealing; reluctant to take personal risk bc fear of embarrassment

Question 19

avoidant personality vs schizoid personality

Answer 19

avoidant wants friends but is too afraid of rejection to try

schizoid doesn’t want relationships

Question 20

dependent personality d/o

Answer 20

excessive need to be taken care of -> submission and clinging; difficulty making decisions without excessive advice and reassurance; needs others to be responsible for most areas of life; difficulty expressing disagreements and initiating projects d/t low self-esteem; feels helpless when alone; seeks new relationship when one ends; unrealistically preoccupied with fear of being left alone

Question 21

OCPD

Answer 21

preoccupied with orderliness, perfectionism, mental and interpersonal control at expense of flexibility, openness, efficiency; preoccupied with rules and details; over devoted to work at expense of leisure; inflexible about morals; usable to discard old objects w/o meaning; reluctant to delegate; hoards money; rigid and stubborn