Personality disorders are mental illnesses in which a person displays rigid and long-term patterns of problematic behaviors and thoughts. These behaviors and ideas are challenging because they don’t easily adapt to a wide range of settings. Most people who have personality disorders don’t immediately seek a diagnosis or treatment.
Are you or someone you care about displaying behaviors and thought patterns that highly interfere with the ability to function normally? If so, you should seek a diagnosis and get professional help right away. Contact Baltimore Detox Center’s team online or call [Direct] to learn about our personality disorder treatment program in Maryland.
What Are the Types of Personality Disorder?
Personality disorders are mental illnesses wherein people’s thought patterns and behaviors cause them to act outside of what society demands, causing distress. There are many types of personality disorders, which can make them difficult to recognize and diagnose.
Only a skilled mental health professional, such as a psychiatrist, psychologist, or social worker, can diagnose a personality disorder. This is due to the fact that their signs and symptoms can overlap. Here are some typical personality disorders:
Antisocial Personality Disorder
People with antisocial personality disorder seem to thrive in conflict. They may get into verbal or physical altercations with people they don’t even know because they don’t care about the social conventions against that sort of behavior. People with antisocial personality disorder can be abusive and show no remorse.
Avoidant Personality Disorder
This disorder involves an extreme fear of rejection and criticism that leads to an inability to engage in meaningful relationships. People with this disorder feel a need to be liked by everyone and feel crushed if they believe they did or said something foolish in front of others. As a result of this emotional fragility, they tend to avoid social situations.
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)
This disorder is characterized by symptoms such as:
- Chaotic behaviors
- Self-harm
- Extremely unstable moods
- A tendency to view oneself or others as either wholly good or bad
People with BPD typically experience difficulty when engaging in meaningful interpersonal relationships.
Dependent Personality Disorder
The defining feature of this disorder is an unwillingness or inability to make decisions or manage life actively. People with dependent personality disorder tend to be timid or submissive and rarely initiate relationships or projects. Even inconsequential decision-making can become an overwhelming task that requires input and reassurance from others.
Histrionic Personality Disorder
This disorder is characterized by highly emotional, overwrought, or dramatic behavior in situations that do not warrant such a response. The purpose of such behavior is to call attention to the person. People with a histrionic personality disorder also pay excessive attention to their appearance and other people’s approval of them.
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
People with narcissistic personality disorder tend to experience feelings of great self-importance, which contrasts with their underlying insecurity. In relationships, narcissists tend to exploit the other person without feeling remorseful. Narcissists also tend to be extremely sensitive to criticism or failure.
Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD)
OCPD is not the same as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The latter is a more serious mental health issue involving uncontrollable thoughts and repetitive behaviors, resulting in perfectionism at the expense of flexibility and inclusiveness.
Schizoid Personality Disorder
This disorder is not the same as schizophrenia, a severe mental health condition that usually includes highly disordered thinking and hallucinations. A person with a schizoid personality disorder may be withdrawn, solitary, or emotionally cold. They also might be described as dreamers.
Schizotypal Personality Disorder
Again, this disorder is not the same as schizophrenia. In schizotypal personality disorder, a person may behave eccentrically or express bizarre beliefs that ostracize them from others. Schizotypal personality disorder often develops along with extreme social anxiety. Some people with a schizotypal personality disorder may even believe they can read other people’s minds.
Paranoid Personality Disorder
People with paranoid personality disorder tend to be very distrustful of other people. These individuals view every interpersonal interaction as a threat. These thought patterns lead them to behave in very guarded or secretive ways. Paranoid people also may turn violent if they perceive someone is ridiculing or threatening them.
What Are the Signs of Personality Disorder?
The signs of personality disorders may differ based on the type of personality disorder in question. However, every personality disorder affects several areas in a person’s life:
- Being unable to manage emotions and getting by through being easily overwhelmed or by ignoring feelings
- Having distorted beliefs, such as a fear of rejection or believing that others can’t be trusted
- Experiencing difficulty in maintaining relationships because of being unable to manage emotions and having distorted beliefs
- Using self-harm used to relieve emotional pressure
While there’s no single cause of developing a personality disorder, there are three factors that may lead to it. These include the environment you grew up in, traumatic experiences during childhood or teenage years and genetics.
Seek Treatment at Baltimore Detox Center
Personality disorders are difficult to manage and even more difficult to cure. People who suffer from these conditions may have abnormal thought patterns and behaviors that prevent them from functioning as well as they should.
Some patients may even have denial issues which can lead them to eject the presence of their condition. Less than half of people with a personality disorder diagnosis are receiving treatment. These treatments include hospitalizations, medications, and psychotherapy sessions.
Overall, therapeutic care is one of the best ways to improve a patient’s mental or physical well-being. Psychotherapy is the main way of treating mental conditions like personality disorders. Therapists deal with patients struggling with personality disorders by encouraging them to talk about their condition, feelings, thought patterns, moods, and behaviors. Several types of psychotherapy that can help include the following:
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)
- Interpersonal therapy (IPT)
- Family therapy
- Holistic therapy
If you’re looking for a personality disorder treatment program in Maryland, contact Baltimore Detox Center’s team online or call [Direct].
