Personality disorders

A group of conditions characterized by a failure to learn from experience or to adapt appropriately to changes, resulting in distress and impairment of social functioning. Personality disorders are ways of behaving that may become especially obvious during periods of stress. They are usually first recognizable in adolescence and continue throughout life, often leading to depression or anxiety. Specific types of personality disorders are divided into 3 groups but there is often overlap. The 1st group is characterized by eccentric behaviour. Paranoid people show suspiciousness and mistrust of others, schizoid people are cold emotionally, and schizotypal personalities have behaviour oddities similar to those of schizophrenia, but less severe. In the 2nd group, behaviour tends to be dramatic. Histrionic people are excitable and constantly crave stimulation, narcissists have an exaggerated sense of their own importance (see narcissism), and people with antisocial personality disorder fail to conform to accepted social standards of behaviour. People in the 3rd group show anxiety and fear. Dependent personalities lack the self-confidence to function independently (see dependence). Those with compulsive personalities are rigid in their habits (see obsessive–compulsive disorder), and passive-aggressive people resist demands from others. Treatment is usually counselling, psychotherapy, and behaviour therapy.