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• Personality Disorders


  A pattern of behaviour and inner experience that: Deviate markedly from cultural norms and expectations, Inflexible and pervasive across a broad range of personal and social situations, Leads to clinically significant distress and impairment in social, occupational or other areas of functioning, Affects ways of thinking about self and others, Emotional responses, Relationships w/ other people, Controlling behaviour, Usually begins in late adolescence and early adulthood
• Personality Disorder Clusters

  • Cluster A (odd/eccentric)
  • Cluster B (dramatic/emotional)
  • Cluster C (fearful/anxious)
• Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD)

  Key criterion: Must be at least 18 y/o, Evidence before 15 y/o, Lack of concern for social norms, Repeated lying and manipulative, Aggressive and easily irritated/provoked, Impulsive and reckless, Irresponsibility, Lack of remorse and empathy
• Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD)

  • Self-concept: Self as unfettered by rules, Challenges: Often conflated with psychopathy, Strongly heritable, MAOA Gene, 1st degree relatives; decreases with age, More in male than female (3:1)
• Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)


  Key criterion: Instability in relationships, emotions and self-image, Fear of abandonment, Aggressive and impulsive, suicidal, self-harm behaviours, Strong emotions and chronic emptiness, Identity disturbance and dissociation
• Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)

  • Self-concept: Self as vague, diffuse, and unstable w/o strong sense of identity, Challenges: Commonly misdiagnosed for bipolar disorder, Similarities with depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, and PTSD, "Wastebasket" diagnosis (bias), Equal in male and female, 5x more likely with 1st degree relatives; decreases with age
• Histrionic Personality Disorder (HPD)


  Key criterion: Excessive attention seeking, Inappropriate, sexually provocative, Shallow, concerned with physical appearance, Strong, rapidly changing emotions, Highly suggestible, Impulsive, carves excitement and novelty
• Histrionic Personality Disorder (HPD)


  • Self-concept: Self as desirable and charming, Challenges: Patients at increased risk of sexual victimization, Differences in socio-cultural and gender expression, Equal male to female, No genetic association found to date
• Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD)

  Intense need for admiration, Preoccupation with achievement, power, influence, intelligence, beauty, Self-important and entitled, Grandiose yet fragile self-esteem, Lacks empathy, Exploits others to achieve own goals, Arrogant and hautiness
• Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD)

  • Self-concept: Unique, admirable, special, Challenges: Highly resistant to treatment, Some association with Serotonin Transporter Protein (5-HttLPR) and narcissism trait
• The proportion of people w/ personality disorders who also have 1 or more other mental disorders: 84.5%
• Dimensional View of Personality disorders

  • Antisocial: LOW conscientiousness/ LOW agreeableness
  • Narcissistic: HIGH extraversion/ LOW agreeableness
  • Histrionic: HIGH Extraversion/ LOW conscientiousness
  • Borderline: EXTREME neuroticism/ LOW openness
• The Unabomber Diagnosis: Schizophrenia-type paranoid, Paranoid personality disorder w/ avoidant and antisocial features
• Dialectical-Behavioural Therapy (DBT)


  A multi-faceted, skill-based approach designed by Dr. Marsha Linehan centerd on acceptance and change