Mental illness: Thoughts, behaviours that are unhealthy

Psychiatrists have identified 10 different personality disorders which are grouped into three categories. For each type, a diagnosis will not be made if you have only one or two of the characteristics.  

You may find that you meet the criteria for several different types of personality disorders.  It can also be the case that a wide range of people meets the criteria for the same disorder,  despite having very different personalities and different individual experiences.  They may also be difficult to differentiate from other mental illnesses like anxiety,  depression and schizophrenia.  

Causes of personality disorders

There’s no clear reason why some people develop a personality disorder and others don’t.  Most  re- searchers think that a  complex mix of factors is involved,  such as:  the environment,  early childhood and teenage experiences and genetic factors.  

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You may be more likely to develop personality disorder if you’ve experienced: 

• An unstable family life, such as living with a parent who is an alcoholic or who struggles to manage a mental health problem;
• Little or no  support  from  your   caregiver – this may be especially  hard  if  you  experienced  a  traumatic event or situation;
• A lack of support or bad experiences during your school life. If you had a difficult childhood or experiences like these, you might have developed certain beliefs about how people think and how relationships work. 

Our experiences growing up can affect our personality in later life.

Difficult or traumatic experiences  may  lead  to  personality   disorder, such as:

• Neglect;
• Losing  a  parent or sudden bereavement;
• Verbal, physical or sexual abuse;
• Being involved in major incidents or accidents. Not everyone who experiences a traumatic situation will develop these problems. Some experts believe inheritance may play a part in the development of personality disorders.

Descriptions of the different personality disorders:

Paranoid personality disorder 

• Find it hard to confide in people, even your friends;
• Find it very difficult to trust other people,  believing they will use you or take advantage of you;
• Watch others  closely,  looking for signs of betrayal or hostility;
• Read threats and danger into everyday situations.

Schizoid personality disorder

• Be uninterested in forming close relationships with other people, including your family;
• Feel that relationships interfere with your freedom and tend to cause problems;
• Prefer to be alone with your own thoughts;
• Choose to live your life without interference from others;
• Get little pleasure from life;
• Have little interest in sex; and,
• Be emotionally cold towards others.

Schizotypal personality disorder

• Find making close relationships extremely difficult;
• Think  and  express  yourself  in   ways that others find “odd”, using  unusual words or phrases;
• Behave in ways that others find eccentric; and,
• Feel very anxious and paranoid in social situations

Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) or psychopathy

• Put yourself in dangerous or risky situations;
• Behave in ways that are unpleasant for others
• Feel very easily bored and act on impulse;
• Behave aggressively and get  into fights easily; and,
• Do things  –  even though they may hurt people – to get what you want.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD)

BPD  is like having no emotional buffer. One can go from nothing to suddenly extremely over-whelming emotions and struggle with expressing them healthily. 

• Feel very worried about people abandoning you, and would do anything to stop that happening;
• Have suicidal thoughts or self-harming behaviour; and,
• Get very angry, and struggle to control your anger.

Histrionic personality disorder

• Feel very uncomfortable if you are not the centre of attention;
• Feel  much more at  ease as the “life and soul of the party”;
• Feel that you have to entertain people;
• Flirt or behave provocatively to ensure that you remain the centre of attention
• Get a reputation for being dramatic and overemotional; and,
• Feel dependent on the approval of others

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Narcissistic personality  disorder

• Believe that there are special reasons that make you different;
• Have fragile self-esteem, so that you rely on others to recognise your worth and your needs;
• Feel upset if others ignore you and don’t give you what you feel you deserve;
• Resent other people’s successes. 

Avoidant  (or anxious)  personality disorder

• Avoid activities that mean you must be with others;
• Expect disapproval and criticism and be very sensitive to it;
• Avoid relationships, friendships and intimacy because you fear rejection; and,
• Reluctant to try new activities in case you embarrass yourself.

Dependent personality disorder

• Feel needy, weak and unable to make decisions or function properly without help or support; and,
• Agree to things you feel are wrong to avoid being alone or losing someone’s support.  

Obsessive-compulsive  personality disorder  (OCPD)

• Need to keep everything in order  and under control;
• Set unrealistically  high standards for  yourself and others;
• Think yours is the  best way of making  things happen;
• Worry when you or others might make mistakes;
• Expect  catastrophes if things aren’t perfect;
• Be reluctant to spend  money on yourself or others; and,
• Have a tendency to hang onto items with no obvious value.