treatments for PD's

Question 1

Treatment Consideration in PDs

Answer 1

• Very difficult to treat with psychotherapy alone
  - Treatment often focuses on comorbid conditions like depression, anxiety, or substance abuse
  - Drug therapy can be helpful in some instances
  
  • Therapeutic relationships difficult to form
    
    • Patients often socially disconnected and mistrust
    • Thought disorders can make communication difficult (especially Cluster A)
    • Patients may try to manipulate the therapist or may become distressed and angry when therapy ends (especially Cluster B)

Question 2

Therapies for Personality Disorders

Answer 2

-Psychodynamic therapies: seek to give the person insight into the childhood origins of their behavior

Question 3

Therapies for Personality Disorders cont

Answer 3

Cognitive and behavioral therapies: focus on specific behavioral deficits:

	- Countering paranoid thinking in Paranoid PD
	- Learning empathy for others in Narcissistic and Antisocial PD
	- Controlling negative emotions in Borderline PD
	- Anxiety management skills for Avoidant PD
- Therapy often takes a more supportive, problem based approach rather than focusing on long-	term change

Question 4

Other Goals of Therapy for PDs

Answer 4

• Accepting that behavior is a problem
  
  • Demonstrating appropriate boundaries in relationships (therapist as model)
  • Bringing calm to chaotic relationships
  • Identification of triggering factors
  • Practicing appropriate ways of expressing and dealing with emotions

Question 5

Ways of Thinking About Personality Disorders

Answer 5

• A more chronic and difficult to treat type of mental illness
  
  • A background that influences the course and treatment of other disorders
  • PDs are more extreme versions of personality traits seen elsewhere in society
  • All of these at the same time