Personality Disorders Flashcards
General Criteria for a Personality Disorder
Pattern manifested in 2 (or more) of the following areas:
- Cognition (ways of perceiving and interpreting self, other people, events)
- Affectivity (range, intensity and appropriateness of emotional response)
- Interpersonal Functioning
- Impulse Control
General Criteria for PATTERN of Personality Disorders
- Inflexible and pervasive across a broad range of personal and social situations
- Leads to clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning
- Stable and of long duration
General Criteria for ONSET of Personality Disorders
Can be traced back to adolescence or early adulthood
Two common areas of vulnerability in persons experiencing a PD
- The ability to self-soothe
2. The ability to maintain adequate self-regard
Cluster A: The “odd” or eccentric PD’s
- Paranoid
- Schizoid
- Schizotypal
Cluster B: Dramatic, emotional, erratic PD’s
- Antisocial
- Borderline
- Narcissistic
Cluster C: Anxious PD’s
- Avoidant
- Dependent
- Obsessive-Compulsive
Kernberg Ego Psychology Theory (specifically BPD)
- Ego overwhelmed by aggression either by virtue of temperament, biology, poor holding environment, or abuse
- As a result, impaired ability to integrate self and objects
Ego Psych: Major Defense Mechanisms used (specifically BPD)
- Splitting
2. Projection
Narcissistic Personality Disorder Defined
Pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and lack of empathy
Narcissistic Personality Disorder Criteria: Indicated by at least 5 or more of the following
- Grandiose sense of self importance
- Preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, ideal love
- Believes they are “special” and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, high status people or institutions
- Requires excessive admiration
- Sense of entitlement
- Interpersonally exploitative
- Lack of empathy: unwillingness to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others
- Is envious of others or believes that others are envious of them
- Arrogant behaviors or attitudes
Antisocial Personality Disorder Definition and Features
- Pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others
- Absence of remorse
- Can consider selves victims or don’t believe to be at fault
- Evidence of conduct must be present from age 15
- Can vary between irresponsible/shallow to violence/aggression
Antisocial Personality Disorder Criteria: Pervasive pattern with the presence of 3 or more of the following
- Failure to conform to social norms with respect to behaviors that are lawful, repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest
- Lying, deceitfulness, use of aliases, conning others for profit or pleasure
- Impulsivity, failure to plan
- Irritability, aggressiveness, indicated by physical fights or assaults
- Reckless disregard for the safety of self or others
- Constant irresponsibility
- Lack of remorse
Dependent Personality Disorder
Pattern of submissive and clinging behavior related to an excessive need to be taken care of
Dependent Personality Disorder Criteria: Pattern indicated by 5 or more of the following
- Difficulty making every day decisions without an excessive amount of advice and reassurance from others
- Needs others to assume responsibility for most major areas of their lives
- Difficulty expressing disagreement in fear of losing support or approval
- Difficulty initiating projects (lack of self confidence in judgement or abilities rather than lack of motivation or energy)
- Goes to excessive lengths to obtain nurturance and support from others, to the point of voluntarily engaging in unpleasant acts
- Feels uncomfortable or helpless when alone (exaggerated fears of being unable to care for self)
- Urgently seeks other relationships when ones end
- Unrealistically preoccupied with fears of being left to take care of self
