The Effects of a Personality Disorder - Research Paper Example

?Introduction Personality disorders are some of the most debilitating psychiatric diseases that affect significant proportion of people in the globe.Numerous research studies have demonstrated that personality disorders impacts negatively on the physical and psychological functioning of the patient. The affected person experiences significant deviation from the normal behavior, in a wide range of social, emotional, mental and medical processes. These changes undermine the wellbeing of the patient negatively. This paper examines various impacts of personality disorders on the afflicted persons. Arthur and Paul (86) define personality disorders as “patterns of rigid, maladaptive behavior, thoughts and emotions associated with how an individual responds to life experiences. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of American Psychiatric Association fourth edition DSM –IV TR (APA 59) defines personality disorder as “a rigid and lasting pattern of inner behavior and experience that deviates noticeably from the expectations of the affected person’s culture. Personality disorders occur mainly during adolescence and early adulthood stages, and the condition stabilizes over time causing intense suffering to the afflicted person for long period. In severe cases, people afflicted with personality disorders develop significant mental and physical impairment that completely limit their ability to undertake normal activities (Beck, Freeman and Davis, 34-36) The severity of personality disorders on a patient depends on the type of the condition. Personality disorders are classified into three categories, namely cluster A, B and C. Cluster A consists of three main personality disorders, namely paranoid, schizoid and schizotypal. Cluster B comprises of histrionic, narcissistic, antisocial, and borderline personality disorders. Finally, cluster C is composed of several personality disorders, including avoidant, dependant and compulsive-obsessive disorders (Arthur and Paul, 67-74). Cluster A personality disorders are currently considered in the schizophrenic spectrum characterized with the absence of psychosis or clinical depression. Patients suffering from cluster A personality disorders demonstrates a variety of odd personality behaviors the most prominent symptoms being eccentric and withdrawal tendencies (Dutton, 208). Patients suffering from the schizoid personality disorder demonstrate a high pattern of detachment from social relationships and a constrained medium of expressing their emotions (Martens, 40). Therefore, schizoid individuals are characterized by unusual aloofness, passivity and isolation from people. Individuals afflicted with schizoid personality disorder lack the desire and enjoyment associated with close family relationships and strong inclination to undertaking solitary activities. In addition, the patients have low interests in sexual activities and they do not derive pleasure in most activities that other people enjoy. Moreover, schizoid patients are indifferent to criticism and praise demonstrating emotional detachment instead. Although many patients suffering from schizoid personality disorder have friends, they prefer engaging in solitary activities (Martens, 38-42) Patients suffering from schizotypical personality disorder demonstrate most schizophrenic symptoms but they are less severe. According to Arthur and Paul (130), schizotypical patients demonstrate sever social anxiety and significantly peculiar or eccentric appearance. In addition, they have a tendency of talking in vague and abstract manner with odd emotional expression. When shizotypical patients express emotions, the expression does not correspond with the situation or content at hand and they might laugh in a sad or serious event. Mentally, schizotypical patients demonstrate bizarre thinking patterns while displaying a normal and healthy disposition (Arthur and Paul 155). Individuals suffering from paranoid personality disorder are extremely distrustful of other people (Beck, Freeman and Davis 80). Afflicted individuals are highly suspicious of being deceived or exploited by others. Consequently, they are highly sensitive to criticism or comments, are rigid and show high level of jealousness and envy toward other people. In addition, paranoid personalities frequently bear grudges with other people and are generally unforgiving. People suffering from cluster A disorders are vulnerable to developing psychosis, depression and abusing drugs (Beck, Freeman and Davis, 94). Patients suffering from cluster B personality disorders show a high tendency of abusing drugs. According to Arthur and Paul (39), sexual and physical abuses during childhood are some of the main contributing factors to the development of cluster B personality disorders. Cluster B patients suffer from constant medical and legal challenges. One of the major medical condition afflicting people with cluster B personality disorders include poor impulse control because of malfunctioning of the cortical, sub cortical and brain stem region (Walter, Kristen et al). Malfunctioning of the cingulated cortex, nucleus accumbers, orbital frontal cortex and amygdala is common in patients suffering from cluster B personality disorders. The dysfunction of these critical brain regions causes the person to experience poor impulse regulation (Arthur and Paul 208-16). Dysfunctional impulse control is manifested by poor judgment in determining the possible consequences of undertaking a particular action or decision in addition to pronounced failure of learning from previous experiences (Martens, 48). Therefore, cluster B patients have high probability of developing impulse control behaviors such as obsessive gambling, kleptomania, pyromania, sporadic explosive behavior in addition to trichotillomania (Arthur and Paul, 338). The main disorders in cluster B include antisocial, borderline, histrionic, and narcissistic personality disorders. These personality disorders exhibit marked symptomatic and behavioral differences. People suffering from antisocial personality disorder exhibit a pronounced disregard of other people’s rights and feelings. Therefore, they exhibit unruly and violent behavior that make them culpable to criminal persecution. Other behavior includes persistent deceit, irresponsibility, engaging in risky behavior such as over speeding, promiscuity and lack of remorse. In addition, substance abuse is a common characteristic of people suffering from antisocial personality disorder (Beck, Freeman and Davis, 104). In borderline personality disorder, the patient exhibits a marked loss of emotional and impulse control. This is manifested by low self-esteem unpredictability of the persons self image and behavior in social interactions (South, Eric, and Thomas 43). People suffering from borderline personality disorder demonstrate phobia of being abandoned leading to unpredictable interpersonal relationships with other people. In addition borderline personality disorder is characterized by impulsive behavior and the affected person indulges in self-harming activities such as unprotected sex, drug abuse, spending money recklessly and careless driving among other activities (Arthur and Paul, 77). Recurring suicidal behavior that could be accompanied by inflicting self-injuries is a common symptom of the personality disorder. Moreover, the patient experiences constant feelings of emptiness and have difficulties in management and control of anger (Walter, Kristen et al). People with histrionic personality disorder demonstrate exaggerated attention seeking behavior. Such individual strive to attract attention in any given social scenario. The excessive attention seeking behavior makes them culpable to risky sexual escapades and other offensive behaviors. Moreover, patients with histrionic personality disorder are easily influenced by other people and changing circumstances in their surroundings. In addition, the patients demonstrate a tendency of exaggerating relationships, events and other social interactions (Walter, Kristen et al). Narcissistic personality disorder is characterized by a heightened sense of one self, where the affected person has an exaggerated sense of self-importance. Narcissistic individuals are preoccupied with fantasies of power, wealth, perfect love, beauty, intelligence and other aspects of success. The individuals also believe they are more special than others are and demand excessive admiration. In addition, people afflicted with the disorder have higher sense of entitlement and hence the exploit other people to achieve their own selfish objectives. Moreover, narcissistic individuals are not empathetic and often exhibit an arrogant attitude to other people (Arthur and Paul, 175-183) Cluster C personality disorders, comprises of dependant, passive and obsessive -compulsive behaviors. Generally, individuals afflicted by this condition demonstrate high inclination towards social withdrawal, self- defeating characteristics and avoidance when confronted by overwhelming stress (APA, 62). People with avoidant personality disorder exhibit shy demeanor, are socially reserved and experience persistent feelings of insufficiency. Hence, they are extremely sensitive to criticism and negative situations. Patients suffering from avoidant personality disorders have low self-esteem and are extremely reserved in new interpersonal relations. Moreover, they view themselves as socially incompetent individuals, inferior to others and lacking personal appeal. Avoidant personality disorder is characterized by a heightened risk- avoiding behavior, where most patients avoid trying or learning new activities (Arthur and Paul, 160-68). Dependent personality disorder is characterized by extreme need to be taken care of, a condition that leads to submission and clinginess especially in social relationships such as marriages. People with dependant personality disorder have trouble in making important decisions and unwilling to take demanding responsibilities in life. Moreover, they are usually conformists, agreeable and averse to opposing another person because they fear losing approval, support and security. In places of work, such individual have limited self-initiative, and feel helpless while working or living alone (Dutton, 16-23) In obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, the afflicted individual demonstrates an unusual concern with achieving perfection and order in their various activities. Such individuals stick to schedules, procedures and rules to an extent that undermines the completion of assigned tasks. Moreover, people with obsessive –compulsive personality disorder are workaholics dedicating most of their energy, time and other resources to work while excluding friendship and leisure activities. In addition, they are normally hesitant in delegation of tasks to other individuals, are rigid and stubborn to their beliefs and convictions. Moreover, they are frugal in spending and have a tendency of keeping custody of worn out and worthless possessions (Beck, Freeman and Davis, 52). It is apparent that personality disorders contribute to the development of negative social and physical behaviors in the affected individuals. These effects undermine productivity of the afflicted people in workplaces, education and other social places. Personality disorders play a significant role in causing marital disharmony that could lead to domestic violence, divorce and separation. In marriages, personality disorders increases conflicts and misunderstandings that eventually undermines the expected satisfaction and companionship. The characteristics associated with personality disorders contribute to misunderstanding, misconceptions and poor communication in addition to physical and verbal violence (South, Eric, and Thomas 770). South, Eric, and Thomas (770) established that people with personality disorders are more likely to behave in an offending manner towards their spouses than those without the disorder. Alternatively, people with personality disorders are likely to interpret well-intended actions or statements of the other spouse negatively or wrongly leading to resentment and conflict. Personality disorders therefore contribute to unhappiness in a marriage. The unhappiness is mainly caused by the faulty mechanisms of interacting and processing information between the couple. For persons with high intensity of personality disorder symptoms, lack of awareness on the individual’s thinking pattern, actions, behavior and emotional disposition are the major causes of unhappy marital relationship (Dutton, 210). People with personality disorders suffer from diverse challenges in life, which play a critical role in influencing their suicidal tendencies. The challenges range from biological to psychosocial factors. According to Haw and Keith (136), these underlying factors influence the vulnerability of the affected persons to commit suicide and undertake deliberate self-harm activities. Borderline and antisocial personality disorders contribute significantly to crime and lawlessness in the society. People afflicted with these conditions encounter formidable challenges in contemporary society because of poor adjustment and lack of appropriate support (Korkeila, J., et al 18). In psychiatry, personality disorders influence the expression and diagnosis of other comorbid mental diseases such as clinical depression. Personality disorders exhibits a high comorbidity rate, which makes it extremely difficult for psychologists and psychiatrics to accurately diagnose and execute the appropriate treatment and intervention. The personality disorders exhibit a wide range of similar symptoms with other disorders and sometimes they coexist with other psychiatric diseases (Newton-Howes, Peter and Tim 25). Several neurologic and physical ailments could exhibit abnormal mental behavior that might be mistaken for personality disorders. For a conclusive diagnosis of a personality disorder, mental sickness that exhibit similar symptoms should not be present (APA 50). In some mental ailments such as depression, the affected patients demonstrate significant level of passivity, apathy and disinterest but the presence of these symptoms do not confirm they suffer from a personality disorder. Personality disorders enhance the development of social dysfunction more than other psychological ailments. The common social challenges include capacity of interacting effectively with other people and taking care of oneself through appropriate nutrition, hygiene, accommodation and protection from hazards. According to Newton-Howes, Peter and Tim (29), personality disorders impair the ability to functionally optimally within the established social norms and structures. The social dysfunction is caused by the incapacitating symptoms of personality disorders and failure of the afflicted persons to seek professional assistance (Martens, 43). The severity of social dysfunction is more prominent in situations where personality disorders coexist with other psychiatric illnesses, especially depression. Fear motivates people with schizoid personality disorder to isolate themselves from other people. The sequestered isolation motivates them to seek meaningful interactions with other people. However, lack of social competence makes them vulnerable to exploitation and mixed emotions, which heightens feelings of loneliness and isolation (Martens, 62). Therefore, people with personality disorders seek meaningful relations with others, but at a psychological level, they do not achieve desired satisfaction. Personality disorders lower productivity of the affected person in the work place by reducing the duration of active service. A study conducted by Korkeila, J., et al (17) established a positive correlation between early retirement before the legal retiring age and presence of personality disorders in the affected employees. The rate of early retirement among persons with personality disorders is higher compared to those with anxiety disorders. The rate of early retirees due to personality disorders is approximately equal to those who seek early retirement because of the suffering from depression (Korkeila, et al, 17-22). The debilitating effects of symptoms associated with personality disorder reduce productivity of such employees because they directly undermine concentration, work attendance and effective interactions of the affected persons with other employees. In the current workplaces where ability to work in multicultural teams is highly emphasized, individuals with personality disorders encounter formidable challenges because of incessant conflicts and poor coordination with other colleagues (Korkeila, J., et al, 21). Conclusion Personality disorders impacts negatively on a person’s physical, psychological and social wellbeing. The disorders are some of the most devastating ailments affecting virtually all realms of human existence including productivity in work place, health, marriage and other important activities. Different personality disorders have various symptoms with varying degrees of severity. The high comorbidity rate of personality disorders complicates treatment, diagnosis and management of the disorder in the affected individuals. Therefore, it is important to develop and constantly review the diagnostic techniques to ensure effective diagnosis and management of the condition. References APA (American Psychiatric Association). Dignostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-IV-TR. 4th ed. Washington DC: American Psychiatric Association, 2000. Arthur Dell, and Paul, Power. Psychological and Social Impacts of Illness and Disability. New York: Springer Publishing Company: 2007: 87-540. Beck, A., Freeman A. and Davis D. Cognitive Therapy of Personality Disorders. New York: Guilford, 2004. Dutton, D. “Intimate Abusiveness.” Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 2(1995): 206- 220. Haw Camilla and Keith Hawton. “Life Problems And Deliberate Self Harm: Associations with Gender, Age, Suicidal Intent and Psychiatric and Personality Disorder.” Journal of Affective Disorders 102. 1-2(2008): 135-49. Korkeila, J., et al. “Early Retirement from Work among Employee with Diagnosis of Personality Disorder Compared to Anxiety and Depressive Disorders.” European Psychiatry 26.1(2011): 17-22. Martens, Willem. Schizoid Personality Disorder Linked to Unbearable and inescapable Loneliness. The European Journal of Psychiatry 24.1(2010): 38-45. Newton-Howes, Peter Tyrer, and Tim Weaver. “Social Functioning of Patients with Personality Disorder in Secondary Care.” Psychiatric Services 59(2008): 1033-1037. South, Susan, Eric, Turkheimer and Thomas Oltmanns. “Personality Disorder Symptoms and Marital Functioning.” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 76.5(2008): 769- 780. Walter, Kristen et al. “The Impact of Personality Disorders on Treatment Outcome for Veterans in a Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Residential Treatment Program.” Cognitive Therapy and Research (2011). Retrieved from http://www.springerlink.com/content/113168578121l41j/ on December 29, 2011. Read More