Personality Disorders

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Mental Health Self-Care Tips:

Living with a mental illness doesn’t have to miserable. It is a great idea to create a self-care plan that keeps your mental health at the forefront of your life. Here are some ideas:

Exercise daily for at least 30 mins.
Have a healthy, strict sleep schedule
Eat a healthy and balanced diet
Make time for socializing with friends and family
Take time to do activities you enjoy
Be proactive by getting out of your head as often as possible
Find time for self-reflection and meditation or spiritual practice
Commit some strong coping tools to memory for use in emotional moments
Take time in your life to recharge and reset

Learn More about Personality Disorders:

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About Personality Disorders

A personality disorder is characterized by a person’s thinking, feeling, or behavior that goes against what is acceptable in society. A personality disorder causes the person to have distress and issues in the way they function in society.

Personality Disorder Symptoms

There are 10 personality disorders that have unique qualities and symptoms. Patients are often affected in two of the following areas:

The way they think of themselves and others
The way they respond in emotional ways
The way they relate to others
The way they control themselves

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) Symptoms:

Borderline Personality Disorder Symptoms provided by The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)

Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment by friends and family
Unstable personal relationships that alternate between idealization (“I’m so in love!”) and devaluation (“I hate her”). This is also sometimes known as "splitting"
Distorted and unstable self-image, which affects moods, values, opinions, goals and relationships
Impulsive behaviors that can have dangerous outcomes, such as excessive spending, unsafe sex, reckless driving, or misuse or overuse of substances
Self-harming behavior including suicidal threats or attempts
Periods of intense depressed mood, irritability or anxiety lasting a few hours to a few days
Chronic feelings of boredom or emptiness. Inappropriate, intense or uncontrollable anger—often followed by shame and guilt
Dissociative feelings—disconnecting from your thoughts or sense of identity or “out of body” type of feelings—and stress-related paranoid thoughts. Severe cases of stress can also lead to brief psychotic episodes

Antisocial personality disorder

Antisocial Personality Disorder Symptoms provided by The Mayo Clinic

Disregard for right and wrong
Persistent lying or deceit to exploit others
Being callous, cynical, and disrespectful of others
Using charm or wit to manipulate others for personal gain or personal pleasure
Arrogance, a sense of superiority, and being extremely opinionated
Recurring problems with the law, including criminal behavior
Repeatedly violating the rights of others through intimidation and dishonesty
Impulsiveness or failure to plan ahead
Hostility, significant irritability, agitation, aggression, or violence
Lack of empathy for others and lack of remorse about harming others
Unnecessary risk-taking or dangerous behavior with no regard for the safety of self or others
Poor or abusive relationships
Failure to consider the negative consequences of behavior or learn from them
Being consistently irresponsible and repeatedly failing to fulfill work or financial obligations

Avoidant Personality Disorder Symptoms:

Avoidant Personality Disorder (APD) Symptoms provided by Healthline. Those with APD may struggle with social and working interactions because of fear of any of the following:

Rejection
Disapproval
Embarrassment
Criticism
Getting to know new people
Intimate relationships
Ridicule

Dependent Personality Disorder (DPD) Symptoms:

Dependent Personality Disorder (DPD) Symptoms provided by Healthline. Signs of this disorder include:

Behaving submissively
Relying on friends or family for decision-making
Needing repeated reassurance
Being easily hurt by disapproval
Feeling isolated and nervous when alone
Fearing rejection being overly sensitivity to criticism
Being unable to be alone
Having a tendency to be naive
Fearing abandonment

Histrionic Personality Disorder Symptoms:

Histrionic personality disorder (HPD) Symptoms provided by WebMD. Those with APD may struggle with social and working interactions and demonstrate any of the following:

Be uncomfortable unless they are the center of attention
Dress provocatively and/or exhibit inappropriately seductive or flirtatious behavior
Shift emotions rapidly
Act very dramatically, as though performing before an audience, with exaggerated emotions and expressions, yet appears to lack sincerity
Be overly concerned with physical appearance
Constantly seek reassurance or approval
Be gullible and easily influenced by others
Be excessively sensitive to criticism or disapproval
Have a low tolerance for frustration and be easily bored by routine, often beginning projects without finishing them or skipping from one event to another
Not thinking before acting
Make rash decisions
Be self-centered and rarely show concern for others
Have difficulty maintaining relationships, often seeming fake or shallow in their dealings with others
Threaten or attempt suicide to get attention

Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) Symptoms:

Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) Symptoms provided by Healthline. Signs of this disorder include:

Having an inflated sense of self-importance and entitlement
Needing constant admiration and praise
Expecting special treatment due to perceived superiority
Exaggerating achievements and talents
Reacting negatively to criticism
Being preoccupied with fantasies about power, success, and beauty
Taking advantage of others
Having an inability or unwillingness to recognize the needs and feelings of other people
Behaving in an arrogant manner

Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) Symptoms:

Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) Symptoms provided by Healthline. Those with OCPD usually have the following signs:

They find it hard to express their feelings
They have difficulty forming and maintaining close relationships with others
They’re hardworking, but their obsession with perfection can make them inefficient
They often feel righteous, indignant, and angry
They often face social isolation
They can experience anxiety that occurs with depression

Paranoid personality disorder (PPD) Symptoms:

Paranoid personality disorder (PPD) Symptoms provided by WebMD. Signs of this disorder include:

Doubt the commitment, loyalty, or trustworthiness of others, believing others are using or deceiving them
Are reluctant to confide in others or reveal personal information due to a fear that the information will be used against them
Are unforgiving and hold grudges
Are hypersensitive and take criticism poorly
Read hidden meanings in the innocent remarks or casual looks of others
Perceive attacks on their character that are not apparent to others; they generally react with anger and are quick to retaliate
Have recurrent suspicions, without reason, that their spouses or lovers are being unfaithful
Are generally cold and distant in their relationships with others, and might become controlling and jealous
Cannot see their role in problems or conflicts and believe they are always right
Have difficulty relaxing
Are hostile, stubborn, and argumentative

Schizoid personality disorder Symptoms:

Schizoid personality disorder symptoms provided by WebMD.

May never marry and may always live with parents
They do not desire or enjoy close relationships, even with family members
They choose solitary jobs and activities
They take pleasure in few activities, including sex
They have no close friends, except first-degree relatives
They have difficulty relating to others
They are indifferent to praise or criticism
They are aloof and show little emotion
They might daydream and/or create vivid fantasies of complex inner lives.

Schizotypal personality disorder Symptoms:

Schizotypal personality disorder symptoms provided by The Mayo Clinic. Signs of this disorder include:

Being a loner and lacking close friends outside of the immediate family
Flat emotions or limited or inappropriate emotional responses
Persistent and excessive social anxiety
Incorrect interpretation of events, such as a feeling that something that is actually harmless or inoffensive has a direct personal meaning
Peculiar, eccentric or unusual thinking, beliefs or mannerisms
Suspicious or paranoid thoughts and constant doubts about the loyalty of others
Belief in special powers, such as mental telepathy or superstitions
Unusual perceptions, such as sensing an absent person's presence or having illusions
Dressing in peculiar ways, such as appearing unkempt or wearing oddly matched clothes
Peculiar style of speech, such as vague or unusual patterns of speaking, or rambling oddly during conversations

How can The Serenity Center help with Personality Disorders?

If you are experiencing any of the symptoms above, The Serenity Center is here to help. Our team is trained to understand personality disorders and the individual needs of the patient. If you need help managing your personality disorder symptoms, The Serenity Center provides:

Compassion and understanding for your individual needs
A customized treatment plan designed to help you succeed
Educational resources to understand your condition and live a full and happy life
Monitoring through regular appointments to ensure you are safe and supported throughout your treatment and life.

You do not have to do this alone. Personality disorders are serious conditions, but it doesn’t have to ruin your life. A solid treatment plan does take time to accomplish, but you are worth it. Set up an appointment today, and our team will give your case the individual care and support you need to enjoy life again.

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