Personality disorders

The personality of people is forged in childhood and adolescence, and is maintained throughout adulthood. Personality marks the way in which people interact with others in society, shapes feelings and ways of thinking. When a person's personality becomes inflexible and difficult to coexist in society, when the way of behaving socially in everyday life is significantly altered, they generate discomfort and social isolation. It is at this point that it is considered personality disorders.

These are not diseases themselves, but variations in the structure of thought and action of the people who present them. However, when they are of sufficient intensity, they can interfere with normal life in society.

How are personality disorders produced?

The origin of the personality disorders It is not specifically clarified, but the most widespread opinion is that personality disorder can be a form of defense of the person against adverse or stressful thoughts, impulses, events and circumstances.

Thus, it could be an avoidance mechanism for a stressful life circumstance.

Symptoms

Nine types of personality disorder have been described, each with its own manifestations. All of them are characterized by being a deviation of behavior with respect to what is considered "normal" in society and in the culture in which the person finds himself, whether in terms of the way of thinking, feeling or acting.

These "inappropriate" manifestations persist over time and cause discomfort in the person who suffers from it and / or in those around him.

The personality disorders most frequently described are:

• Paranoid: the person is resentful and distrustful, he thinks that everything revolves around him, especially to harm him.
• Schizoid: they are lonely people and insensitive to the feelings of others.
• Antisocial: they tend to be irresponsible, ruthless people, who are always outside the rules, even complying with them and looking for ways to avoid complying with them.
• Histrionic: People who always want to be the focus of attention and act in a dramatic way.
• Obsessive: they are highly indecisive, scrupulous and detailed people.
• : They are people who believe they are omnipotent, explorers and arrogant.
• Limit: they are impulsive people who fear being abandoned.
• Avoidant: they do not interact with the people around them for fear of being rejected.
• Dependent: they always accommodate the decisions of others to avoid deciding for themselves.

Diagnosis

The diagnosis of personality disorders is made through clinical manifestations, especially through personal history and social behavior, from the observation of the person in society. It is considered that all people have a certain degree and some traits of one or more personality disorders, but that these do not interfere with daily life in society, so they are considered normal in some way. In some professions, even having a mild personality disorder may be considered beneficial in some way.

Patients often do not request professional care and it is often the people around them who request care for them.

Of great importance is being able to determine the degree to which the disorder is interfering with the patient's daily life and with his family or social environment.

Treatment of personality disorders

The treatment of personality disorders should be addressed when it seriously affects the daily life of the patient or the lives of the people around him. The approach usually comes from two perspectives, psychological and pharmacological.

Most patients refuse long-term drug treatment, due to the fact that the disorder is always chronic and is often not perceived by the patient as such. The patient generally perceives the disorder as a way of being and even sees it as an advantageous fact of his personality or as a problem external to himself. Thus, the health professional must achieve the consideration of the patient, making him consider that his personality trait is a disorder that is negatively affecting his own life and that of his environment.

Precautionary measures

It is considered that the stable, flexible and normalized family and social environment, the existence of basic norms of coexistence and the need to comply with them, the existence of educational patterns that favor the maturation and balance of the person in the stages of formation (childhood and adolescence) are the best measures to avoid the appearance of personality disorders in adulthood.