Personality Disorders. Symptoms, Causes, Treatment - Research Paper Example

Their perception about themselves is that they are different from others. They may consider themselves to be 'better' or 'inferior' to others. The immediate result of this perception is a difference in their behavior which is easily notable by others; but not always accepted. With the passage of time, this perception about self and about their surroundings and others becomes solidified in their personality. Such individuals fail to understand other's perspectives and tend to cling to the perception of their own (Livesley, 2001).

Affectivity – Responding to the environment stimuli is a normal biological response. However, the level of response depends upon the mental status of an individual. Affectivity refers to the notion that individuals with personality disorders have a tendency to over-react or under-respond to a stimulus. For this reason they are easily picked up as 'different'. Interpersonal Functions – Since the basis of effective psychological functioning is cognition; a defect in cognition causes individual with personality disorders to have defective interpersonal functions.

This often presents as the cause of distress for many such individuals. Impulse Control – Since cognition and lack of control on emotional response is limited in the personality disordered individuals, they are expected to respond impulsively to the events of life i.e. they fail to step back and think before they make a move (Dobbert, 2010). Causes Most of the personality disorders originate during periods of early childhood and extent towards the youth and later years. Due to this reason is it often impossible to determine with certainty the causes of such disorders.

Additionally, it is very common that personality disorders are ignored and no treatment is sought till that are aggravated enough to disturb the life of patient as well his fellow individuals. First and foremost is the importance of the 'temperament' of the infant which defines the way an infant responds to environmental stimuli. The same stimulus may produce varying responses in different infants; it is for this reason that the learning is molded according to the perception. So, in cases where infants are anxious or easily irritated, they turn out to be fearful and anxious adults.

Similarly, in cases where infants have a happy response to their surrounding stimuli the ultimate result is a extroverted relaxed adult. In addition to the temperament related development of children, it should be noted that a number of personality disorders run in families. It has been noted that a number of personality disorders appear in clusters in families e.g. paranoid and schizoid disorders. One more factor which is important as a cause of personality disorder is the psychological influence of the surrounding incidents and happenings through which an individual passes.

These are closely related to the cognition system of human beings. Cognition in turn may be conditioned according to the previous experiences. If previous experiences regarding a particular set of conditions are not pleasant; any future encounter with similar conditions may bring about the onset of a particular state of mind that on medical basis is termed a disorder (Veague, 2007). Treatment Since the etiological basis of personality disorders is difficult to determine; the treatment of these disorders poses special challenges as well.

Another important aspect is the duration of treatment, which in most disorders is very lengthy and has to be continued in others. Additionally, the fact that mental disorder tend to overlap in individuals warrants special consideration. Individuals presenting for the treatment of one