The 10 Types of Personality Disorders

What are the different personality disorders and how can we distinguish between them?

Personality disorders are a group of conditions in which individuals exhibit long-standing patterns of thinking, perceiving, feeling and behaving that differ from what society considers normal.

Their way of acting and thinking, and their distorted beliefs about others, can lead to bizarre behavior and can be very upsetting to others.

What are Personality Disorders?

These individuals often have problems in different areas of life, including social and occupational functioning, and often have poor coping skills.They often have poor coping skills and difficulty forming healthy relationships. Personality disorders usually emerge in adolescence and continue into adulthood. They may be mild, moderate or severe, and it is possible that these individuals may have periods of remission in which they function relatively well.

Although the causes are not entirely clear, personality disorders may be associated with genetic and environmental factors. Regarding the latter, experiences of distress, stress or fear during childhood, as well as mistreatment, abuse or emotional neglect, may cause future development of such disorders.

Types of Personality Disorders

The different personality types are grouped into three major groups or "clusters".

• Cluster AStrangers, eccentrics. Introverted and lack of close relationships.
• Cluster BImpulsive, emotional, flamboyant, extraverted and socially and emotionally unstable.
• Group CAnxious, fearful and with presence of interpersonal and intrapsychic conflicts.

Cluster A Personality Disorders

Cluster A personality disorders have to do with bizarre behavior patterns, alien to the codes of desocialization and social conventions, and even denoting a disconnection with reality and psychological alterations of psychotic type.

1. Paranoid Personality Disorder

Paranoid personality disorder is characterized by a generalized distrust of others. generalized distrust of others, including friendsincluding friends and even family and partners. As a result, the person feels guarded and under suspicion, and is constantly looking for clues to validate his or her conspiracy theories. This personality type is that of a person who is extremely sensitive to setbacks, and easily feels shame and humiliation. He tends to isolate himself from others and destroy close relationships.

2. Schizoid Disorder

Schizoid personality disorder is characterized by the fact that individuals with this condition isolate themselves and avoid social activities and interpersonal relationships.. These individuals organize their lives in such a way that they avoid contact with other people. Therefore, they do not desire or enjoy close relationships, choose solitary jobs and activities and show emotional coldness.

3. Schizotypal Disorder

The schizotypal disorder is characterized by oddities in appearance, behavior, and speech; unusual perceptual experiences; and abnormalities in thinkingthat resemble those observed in schizophrenia.

Schizotypical people isolate themselves because they have inappropriate affect and social anxiety. They usually have magical thinking and are characterized by being superstitious. Sometimes they may believe they have superpowers or that they have been victims of paranormal or extraterrestrial experiences. They have problems relating to others because of their coldness and because they are distant.

Group B Personality Disorders

This group of personality disorders is characterized by emotional instability and/or the histrionic and unpredictable component of the person's behavior. They tend to generate serious difficulties when interacting with others, either by emotional outbursts or by the tendency to ignore social norms.

4. Antisocial Disorder

The person who suffers from this personality disorder called antisocial disorder disregards social norms and obligations, is aggressive, acts impulsively, lacks a sense of guilt, and does not seem to learn from experience.

In many cases, he may have no difficulty with relationships, and may even appear superficially charming (hence the term "charming psychopath"). However, their relationships usually do not last long. This type of personality disorder is closely related to criminal behavior.

5. Borderline Personality Disorder

People with borderline personality disorder or borderline often feel empty andfeel empty and abandoned, and may have difficulty coping with stressful events.. They have a weak and changeable personality, and doubt everything. They can go from moments of calm to moments of anger, anxiety, or despair in just a few seconds. These people live their emotions to the fullest, and their love relationships are intense, because they idolize the other person.

Symptomatology is characterized by intense anger and inability to control it, frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment, alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation in interpersonal relationships, markedly unstable self-image, and chronic feelings of emptiness. Occasionally these individuals may have episodes of paranoia, and tend to engage in risky behaviors such as unprotected sex, excessive alcohol consumption, and gambling.

6. Histrionic Personality Disorder

Individuals affected by histrionic personality disorder have a low self-esteem and seek to attract the attention of others by dramatizing or role-playing dramatizing or playing a role, they are emotionally very sensitive in an attempt to be heard and seen. Therefore, these individuals pay excessive attention to the care of their appearance and behave in an overly charming and seductive manner. They have a low tolerance for frustration and continually seek approval from others.

Their life becomes a vicious circle that can become entrenched, for if they feel rejected, the more histrionic they become; and the more histrionic they become, the more rejected they feel.

7. Narcissistic Personality Disorder

People with narcissistic personality disorder believe they are more important than others. They tend to exaggerate their achievements and may constantly brag about their attractiveness or success. They feel a deep need for admiration, but lack empathy for other people. In addition to their egocentric behavior, they are also characterized by being very spiteful, and often hold attitudes of resentment and revenge towards others.

Cluster C Personality Disorders

Finally, cluster C of personality disorders includes psychological alterations associated with fear, distress and avoidant tendencies. Those who develop a disorder of this type tend to feel discomfort in situations that do not represent a real danger or risk, which also influences their way of establishing social interactions (often based on dependence).

8. Avoidant Personality Disorder

People with this type of disorder often experience feelings of inferiority. They usually live dependent on the criticism of others and avoid participating in new activities or making new friends because they consider themselves socially inept and unattractive. They live in constant fear of being embarrassed or rejected.

This personality disorder is strongly associated with an anxiety disorder, and may have its origin in rejection by parents or childhood peers.

9. Dependent Personality Disorder

In the dependent personality disorderIn dependent personality disorder, individuals suffering from this condition depend on other people to meet their emotional and physical needs.. They are unable to make decisions on their own and usually avoid being alone and may be prone to tolerate physical and verbal abuse.

10. Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder

People with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder are usually very disciplined people, with an imperious need for order, and strongly adhere to rules and regulations. They are characterized by being rigid, perfectionistic, ruminating, moralistic, inflexible, and indecisive.. They feel very uncomfortable when they do not achieve perfection.