How can "personality" be defined?
Personality translates into the way you think, feel and act and is what distinguishes a person from everyone else.
What factors influence "personality"?
There are several factors that can influence an individual's personality, namely:
- the experiences you have during your child development
- the context in which it is inserted
- some traits that appear to have heritability (genetic and epigenetic)
What are personality disorders?
We are dealing with a personality disorder when:
- Personality traits determine a behavior or experience that impair social relationships
- cause suffering and
- They deviate from the expectations of the culture in which the individual is inserted – either by altering the ability to think, express and live affections, psychosocial functioning and impulse control
In addition, it is also necessary that one or more personality disorder traits dominate the individual's functioning, or that the individual weakens in his or her adaptive capacities at all levels or at least one of them (interpersonal, affective, work or school). Finally, it is also essential that there is no diagnosis of any other.
What types of disorders can be diagnosed?
Personality disorders can be grouped into three distinct groups ("clusters") based on descriptive similarities as well as the tendency for personality disorders to co-occur within the same group.
| Personality disorders | ||
Group A:
|
Group B:
|
Group C:
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| people often seen as being weird or eccentric | individuals tend to appear dramatic, emotional, or erratic | individuals with a tendency to appear anxious or fearful |
It should be noted that, before looking for personality traits for a diagnosis of personality disorder, it is essential to consider that people without personality disorders present characteristics of different groups at the same time, without a pathological character.
Who is most affected by these types of disorders?
The characteristics of a personality disorder are evident in adolescence or early adulthood. It makes no sense to establish a diagnosis during childhood while major changes in the individual's functioning are still possible.
Are personality disorders constant throughout life?
Some types of personality disorders (namely antisocial, borderline, histrionic and narcissistic personality disorders) may become less evident or disappear with age, being shaped by constructive experiences that the subject may have throughout life.
The same does not seem to happen in other cases, such as obsessive-compulsive and schizotypal personality disorders, which remain stable throughout life.
What are the factors that can trigger these disorders?
There are several factors that can contribute to the development of personality disorders.
- Genetics: Plays a role in temperament as well as in experiences such as aggression, anxiety and fear
- Childhood trauma: whether physical or sexual, predisposes to certain types of personality disorders, for example borderline personality disorder
- Verbal abuse: Verbal abuse itself can lead to not only borderline personality disorder, but also narcissistic, obsessive-compulsive, or paranoid
In addition to these, (hyper)sensitivity to stimuli usually conditions the emergence of anxious or dependent personalities. And yet, in addition to the parents, the peers who live with us are very significant, as they significantly determine what we think and feel (e.g. a teacher or a distant friend or family member).
How is a personality disorder diagnosed?
Diagnosing a personality disorder requires an extensive evaluation:
- cross-sectional assessment, often using formal psychological tests
- Longitudinal assessment, following close follow-up of the patient to ensure that the behavior deviation is stable and long-lasting.
A psychiatric evaluation is essential, as it first requires the exclusion of illness (e.g., psychiatric) that can best explain the patient's current behavior, requiring a thorough physical and psychopathological examination.
Are there diagnostic criteria for personality disorder?
yes. There are important classification manual criteria to guide the diagnosis. Its use should always be guided by the clinical prudence of the doctor or psychologist who will evaluate it, since the diagnosis of personality disorder does not always help the intervention towards the patient's recovery. Sometimes, it can only lead to greater stigma either by the patient himself or by health technicians, reducing the resources to help him.
Source: Portuguese Society of Psychiatry and Mental Health (SPPSM)