Personality disorders

Your personality is your ‘own nature’, which distinguishes you from others in your interactions. That is something different than your identity. Your identity is the subjective image that you have of yourself or that you present to others about yourself. Something can be ‘wrong’ in both identity and personality, that is what this article is about.

A personality disorder is characterized by long-term rigid and maladaptive thought and behavior patterns in someone. These thought and behavior patterns cause problems at home and at work. People with a personality disorder are often unaware of their problematic functioning. The characteristics of a personality disorder can be found in both the personality (that is, what makes you recognisably different from others) and in the identity (how you see yourself and what image you present of yourself to others).

Personality changes as a result of brain damage are not called a personality disorder, but a psycho-organic disorder.

Various personality disorders

There are a lot of different personality disorders that can be divided into 3 separate groups based on their characteristics;
1. Paranoid, schizoid and schizotypal personality disorders,2. Antisocial, borderline, histrionic and narcissistic personality disorders,
3. Avoidant, dependent and compulsive personality disorders.

Paranoid, schizoid and schizotypal personality disorders

These personality disorders are characterized by strange or eccentric behaviors .

Schizoid personality disorder	People with this personality disorder have no intimate relationships or acquaintances outside the family circle and prefer to be alone and have little or no contact with others.
Schizotypal personality disorder	these people have great difficulty staying on topic and talk in an abstract, vague manner. They often have very strange thoughts.
Paranoid personality disorder	People with this personality disorder have a lot of distrust, which is the cause of the difficult contacts they have with others. They have a suspicious and distant attitude

Antisocial, borderline, histrionic and narcissistic personality disorders

The people with a personality disorder in this category often have dramatic, emotional or unpredictable behavior .

Antisocial personality disorder	These people exhibit irresponsible behavior from their youth on, showing little or no consideration for others. They act impulsively and are easily irritated.
Borderline personality disorder	people with this disorder are insecure and unstable about their self-image. They have few contacts, many conflicts with other people and suffer from separation anxiety. Moreover, their moods often vary greatly.
Histrionic personality disorder	people with this personality disorder exhibit dramatic behavior with exaggerated emotional response. Their attention-grabbing behavior is particularly striking.
Narcissistic personality disorder	These people think they are fantastic and very important.

Avoidant, dependent and compulsive personality disorders

This type of personality disorders is characterized by anxiety .

Avoidant personality disorder	these people are hypersensitive to the opinions of others. They have low self-esteem and avoid social contact, terrified of being rejected. They present themselves as timid, insecure and afraid.
Dependent personality disorder	People with this personality disorder attract others to them and do not dare to make decisions independently. They constantly ask for advice and confirmation and are hypersensitive to criticism. They lack self-confidence.
Compulsive personality disorder	these people are perfectionists. They are stubborn, inflexible, overly conscientious, meticulous and set unreasonably high standards for themselves.