If you are fascinated with the human mind as much as I am, you will probably find the idea of understanding and learning more about personality disorders appealing. A personality disorder is a type of mental illness in which a person has trouble perceiving and relating to situations and people, including themselves. People with personality disorders usually have unhealthy patterns of thoughts and behaviors that often cause problems. Here are 7 personality disorders you might be intrigued to know about.
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1. Paranoid Personality Disorder
One of the most interesting personality disorders is the paranoid personality disorder. People with this problem live in fear of hurt and betrayal. They lead a cynical life without losing touch with reality. This personality disorder usually surfaces during the early adulthood, as the person feels a certain sense of suspicion and distrust even when it comes to people who have constantly proven their loyalty. Can you just imagine living in paranoia that everyone is against you?
2. Schizoid Personality Disorder
One of the more subtle disorders is the schizoid personality disorder. People suffering with it usually don’t look or behave out of the ordinary. They can function in everyday life and do well in solitary jobs but they are never able to form meaningful relationships with others. These people usually become loners and find comfort in animals!
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3. Antisocial Personality Disorder
This form of personality disorder can vary in severity. For example, the more dangerous and harmful extremity of this disease is described by sociopathic or psychopathic behavior. A sociopath is characterized by a deformity in one’s conscience while a psychopath has no conscience at all. What is scary is that these people are great manipulators so it is very easy for them to deceive others.
4. Histrionic Personality Disorder
Individuals with the histrionic personality disorder tend to be very emotional and dramatic. They long for attention from others and are not satisfied when they are not the life of the party. At first these people like to charm others with their enthusiasm but later form a self-focused conversation. One interesting fact is that this disorder is more frequent in women!
5. Borderline Personality Disorder
This disorder is characterized by emotional instability in people, which can severely affect one’s daily life. People with this disorder usually have a distorted self-image, which causes them to denigrate themselves. In addition, they have frequent mood swings that make it hard for them to keep stable relationships. Although the borderline personality disorder is socially and emotionally damaging, a person with this condition can get better with treatment.
6. Dependent Personality Disorder
People with a dependent personality disorder often have a hard time making decisions without the help and support of others, because they fear losing their approval. This problem can even pervade to everyday choices such as what to wear, what job to apply for and what to do in their free time. These people often rely on their parents or significant other to provide them with an excessive amount of advice and reassurance. Their number one fear is being left alone without care.
7. Obsessive- Compulsive Personality Disorder
Even though you might be a perfectionist and tend to check things twice to make sure they are perfect, it doesn’t mean that you have the obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. People with this disease feel the need to check things repeatedly to the point where it becomes their obsession. For example the people who are obsessed with germs and dirt, will keep washing their hands over and over again almost as if it is their ritual. Once the disorder becomes severe, people can’t control their obsessions and instead their obsessions control them.
It is really interesting and fascinating what some people have to go through on their daily basis. While most of us can easily go through our daily schedule, these people have to battle themselves on everyday basis. Which of these personality disorders do you believe is the most brutal?
Comments
Rose: I think I definitely have #6, I have had these symptoms but not known what it is or if it a disorder.
Kortni: I literally had a lecture about these this morning in my very last psychology class of the semester. How ironic!
Sandra: I can see myself a bit in almost all of these..
Kati: Sorry but you have gotten obsessive compulsive personality disorder confused with obsessive compulsive disorder. They aren't the same thing. People with obsessive compulsive personality disorder take pleasure in their obsessions and believe them to be rational, with OCD it is the exact opposite. The obsessions are often painful and debilitating. Sorry, as someone with OCD, I just had to correct you :P
Maxamillion: How about we reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness. For anyone with any sort of personality disorder who is seeking help, you may like to join "Breaking Out," a Facebook group of people working to break the stigma. So many of us have some of these and we don't even know. This will give you real and relatable information on these
Misty: I think this is wonderful and educational. GFDK perhaps you should read less into the punctuation!!!! Several people in my family and myself all suffer from some of these disorders and I still find myself intrigued with the mind. As a professional who also works with many people with these disorders, I recommend you take a step back and realize the writer was not speaking to you directly, but informing and educating. I also find educating myself about cancer to be fascinating. The body and mind are fascinating and intriguing.
Elizabeth: Ahhh I know all of these thanks to being a psychology major
Kajb: We're all screwed up. That's why we need God.
Hayley: I definitely get obsessed about my appearance! Daily struggle
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