Personality Disorders and Disruptive, Impulse-Control, and Conduct Disorder

Question 1

What are the categories for

1. Cluster A
2. Cluster B
3. Cluster C

Answer 1

1. oddeccentric
2. dramatic/emotional/erratic
3. anxious/fearful

Question 2

What are personality disorders and what is the onset and course

Answer 2

Pattern of perceiving, relating, and thinking about the environment and oneself that is chronic, pervasive, culturally deviant, maladaptive or distressful

Childhood-adolescence with behaviors solidifying with age-typically not diagnosed until adulthood

Question 3

What are treatments?

Answer 3

CBT with some drugs given as an adjunct. Treatment is difficult because it hard to unlearn personality traits that you’ve had forever

Question 4

Paranoid Personality Disorder
What Cluster
What theme
Symptoms
What are the differentials

Answer 4

A

Distrust and Suspiciousness

Suspicion that others are being exploitative or deceptive, unjustified doubts about loyalty/trustworthiness, reluctance to confide, reads hidden threatening meanings into remarks, and reacts angrily to perceived insults

Delusional Disorder Persecutory type-but its not this because the paranoid thought is not with absolute certainty

Age of onset in DD is sudden and middle aged and focused on one thing, whereas in PPD, symptom onset is gradual and typically in childhood with pervasive paranoia

Question 5

Schizoid Personality Disorder
Cluster
Symptoms
Theme

Answer 5

Cluster A

Interpersonal Detachment

Lacks interpersonal relationships, close friends, prefers solitary activities, derives pleasure in few activities, indifference to praise/criticism, emotional coldness, detachment or flat affect

Question 6

Schizotypal Personality Disorder
Theme
Cluster
Symptom

Do schizotypal have psychotic symptoms?
What are they referred to as?

Answer 6

Cluster A

Eccentric

Ideas of reference, odd beliefs or magical thinking, unusual perceptual experiences, odd thinking and speech, suspiciousness-often resulting in excessive social anxiety, odd appearance, problematic social relatedness

No

They may develop psychotic symptoms and are called the premorbid personality of schizophrenia

Question 7

Histrionic Personality Disorder
Symptoms
Cluster
Theme

Answer 7

B

Excessive Emotionality

Needs to be the center of attention, uses physical appearance for attention, inappropriately provocative behavior, shallow and rapidly shifting emotions, impressionistic speech that lacks detail, exaggerated emotional expression, considers relationships intimate

Question 8

Borderline Personality Disorder
Cluster
Theme
Symptom
Treatment

Answer 8

B

Instability

In relationships, emotions, self, and behaviors
Splitting behavior, intense uncontrolled anger, frantically avoids abandonment, unstable self-image, self-damaging impulsivity, chronic feelings of emptiness, suicidal gestures/self-mutilation, transient stress-related dissociation/paranoia

DBT: Dialectical Behavioral Therapy teaching mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, interpersonal effectiveness

Question 9

Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Cluster
Theme
Symptoms
Differentials? There are 2

Answer 9

Cluster B

Grandiosity

Grandiose sense of self-importance, preoccupied with success, requires admiration, sense of entitlement, interpersonally exploitative, lacks empathy with hauhgty attitudes

1. Delusional Disorder Grandiose Type: in DD, they have one grandiose belief of delusional proportion and in NPD, its general arrogance. In DD, the age of onset is older than NPD and its much more abrupt
2. Bipolar 1: more symptoms thn grandiosity

Question 10

Antisocial Personality Disorder
Cluster
Symptoms
Theme
*Criteria*

Answer 10

Pervasive disregard for other’s rights

Cluster B

Repeated unlawful acts, deceitfulness, irritability and aggressiveness, reckless disregard for safety of self or others, irresponsibility, lack of remorse

Must be at least 18 years old and have evidence of Conduct Disorder with onset before the age of 15

Also, ASPD is associated with a lack of physiological reactivity to stressors-no response to lying, vulgar images, etc.

Psychopath (sociopath) is a research term used synonymously

Question 11

Avoidant Personality Disorder
Cluster
Symptoms
Theme
Differentials: 2

Answer 11

C

Inferiority Complex

Avoids interpersonal and occupational activities for fear of criticism, unwilling to start relationship unless certain of being liked, restraint with relationship for fear of ridicule, negative self-image, reluctance to engage in new activities

1. Schizoid Personality Disorder-they don’t desire a relationship while Avoidants do.
2. Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD)-level of anxiety is far more extreme-they have higher sympathetic nervous system arousal

Question 12

Dependent Personality Disorder
Cluster
Theme
Symptoms

Answer 12

C

Excessive need to be cared for

Indecisive, difficulty disagreeing, difficulty initiating due to low confidence, feels helpless when alone, urgently seeks another relationship if one ends, excessive lengths to keep/gain support

Question 13

Obsessive Compulsive Personalty Disorder
Cluster
Theme
Symptoms
Differentials:

Answer 13

C

Inflexible perfectionism and control

Preoccupation with details, rules, lists until point of activity is lost, excessive devotion to work, rigid and stubborn, over conscientious and scrupulous, hoarding and miserly behavior, reluctance to delegate work with others

OCD: intrusive thoughts and repeated rituals
OCPD is TYPE A personality that is competitive, impatient, irritable, hostile, and is associated with coronary heart disease