Personality disorders Flashcards
What is Id?
- Instinctive biological drives and desires
- “I want”
What can Id lead to?
- Overindulgence and disregard for rights of others
What is Ego?
- Logical and language based problem solving
- “I think”
- Balances needs of the id with external reality
What is Superego?
- Moral conscience based on ideal and values of society
- “I should”
- Can be the self-critical aspect of personality
What are ego defenses?
- How the ego solves problems
1. Resolves conflicts between the desires of the id and the restrictions of the superego
2. Keeps the person connected to reality (exhibited in daily behaviors)
What are some qualities of the ego defenses?
- Unconscious
- Change with circumstances
- Can be useful (coping) or harmful (pathological)
- Vary by intensity or extent
Why do we have defence mechanisms?
- Major psychological drive for most people is to reduce tension
- A major cause of tension is anxiety
How is the tension caused by anxiety resolved?
- Increase in problem-solving thoughts (seek rational solution or seek how to escape solution)
- If cannot (re)solved, defense mechanism takes over
What are defense mechanisms?
- How we cope with stress in the world; created by our natural limitations and view of our self
- Appear unconsciously to change, transform, or otherwise re-invent reality in either large or small ways
When can defense mechanisms become problematic?
- When one or two patterns are used exclusively
- Lead to maladaptive functioning
What is the continuum of progressing in maturity?
- Primitive (narcissistic) –> Basic (neurotic) –> Mature
When do primitive defenses naturally occur?
- Throughout childhood, in dreams, and in psychotic adults
What happens if the three primitive defenses are used in conjunction?
- Permits one to effectively rearrange external experiences to eliminate the need to cope with reality
What is projection (primitive)?
- Grossly frank delusions about external reality, usually of a persecutory nature
- The self projects paranoid ideas out into the world and onto other people
What is an example of projection?
- A man who cheated on his wife believes his wife is having an affair even though there is no evidence of it
What is denial (primitive)?
- Refusal to accept external reality because it is too threatening
- Arguing against an anxiety-provoking stimulus by stating it doesn’t exist
- A common initial response to shock or grief
What is an example of denial?
- A patient with a sprained ankle goes for a long run
What is splitting (primitive)?
- Seeing some people as all good and others as all bad
- Often seen in borderline personality disorder
- Sometimes the splitting can occur within one other person
What is an example of splitting?
- Patient idolizes you but demonizes previous provider or your office staff
What are the three primitive defense mechanisms?
- Projection
- Denial
- Splitting
What is displacement (neurotic)?
- Shifts sexual or aggressive impulses to a more acceptable or less threatening target
- Redirecting emotion to a safer outlet
- Separation of emotion from its real object and redirection of the intense emotion toward someone or something that is less offensive or threatening in order to avoid dealing directly with what is frightening or threatening
What are some examples of displacement?
- Mother yells at child when actually angry with spouse
- Physician yells at front office staff when frustrated with a patient
What is regression (neurotic)?
- Temporary reversion of behavior to an earlier, less mature, more child-like behavior, rather than handling unacceptable impulses in a more adult way
What is an example of regression?
- An adult begins talking in “baby talk” when stressed
- When stressed, an adult starts sucking on their thumb since it calmed them when they were younger
What is somatization/hypochondriasis (neurotic)?
- Transforming negative feelings towards others into negative feelings toward self, pain, illness, anxiety
What is an example of somatization/hypochondriasis?
- Student feels embarrassed by resident on rotation, then next day has upset stomach arriving at the rotation
What is introjection/identification (neurotic)?
- This is the opposite of projection because it involves taking others’ behavior or emotions and internalizing them
- When a person is aware of this, it is an imitation
- When a person is not aware of this, it is a defense
What are some examples of introjection/identification?
- Student takes on characteristics of mentor
- Abused child becomes an abusive parent
What is isolation of affect (neurotic)?
- Separating feelings from ideas and events
- La belle indifference (seen in conversion disorder and Alzheimer’s) – very calm when talking about something that seems sad/stressful/shocking
- Cognitive information is recalled, but emotions are avoided
What is an example of isolation of affect?
- Person is describing a murder with graphic detail but no emotional response is evident
What is intellectualization (neurotic)?
- Focusing on and exaggerating the intellectual aspect of a situation so as to distance oneself from anxiety
- Emotion replaced by thoughts
- Separating emotion from ideas
What are some examples of intellectulization?
- Physician focuses on test results rather than patient’s emotions
- “Notice how the bone is protruding from my leg. It is interesting to complete the physiology of this event”
What is blocking (neurotic)?
- Temporarily inhibits thinking
- Can include affect and behavior
- The individual “stops” momentarily
What is acting out (neurotic)?
- Covering up true feelings by discharging a different feeling (usually anger)
What are some examples of acting out?
- Physical fight or bullying because individual can’t handle their internal emotions
- Adolescent begins to drink alcohol every day to cope with parent’s divorce
What is reaction formation (neurotic)?
- Converting unconscious wishes or impulses considered threatening into their opposite (an over-reaction)
- Taking the opposite belief because the true belief causes anxiety
- This defense works will in the short term only
What are some examples of reaction formation?
- Two co-workers fight, but secretly attracted to each other
- Student who does not like kids becomes a pediatrician
What is undoing (neurotic)?
- Do an action hoping to fix or reverse a previously unacceptable behavior
- Seen in bulimia, intimate partner violence, compulsive behavior