Question 1

what is the definition or description of: personality disorder?

Accepted Answer

Personality Disorder: According to the dsm IV tr, a personality disorder is:  an enduring pattern of inner experience and behavior that deviates markedly from the expectations of the individual's culture, is pervasive and inflexible, has an onset in adolescence or early adulthood, is stable over time, and leads to distress or impairment.

Question 2

what is the definition or description of: avoidant personality disorder?

Accepted Answer

Feeling inferior: Feelings of inferiority and inadequacy are the hallmarks of apd. These feeling usually give rise to pervasive difficulties around social situations, receiving negative feedback from others, and taking personal risks. People suffering from apd usually tend to view themselves as unlikable and subordinate to others, making most social contexts significantly stressful and even frightening.

Question 3

what is the definition or description of: histrionic personality disorder?

Accepted Answer

Drama n attention: By definition personality disorders are persisting patterns of behavior which interfere with one or more areas of life functioning.  Histrionic traits tend to include dramatic and/or seductive behaviors, dramatic emotional expressions, calls for attention, and often also are acoompanied by a lack of psychological insight.

Question 4

what is the definition or description of: borderline personality disorder?

Accepted Answer

BPD is the most: severe personality disorder, clinically, although it is rivaled by Antisocial Personality Disorder in society at large.   BPD is characterized by a very fragile self-esteem, highly volatile interpersonal relationships and extreme mood and behaviors.   This illness is often confused with bi-polar and drug intoxication states.   Therapy takes a LONG time to be effective, if at all (CBT and DBT...)

Question 5

what is the definition or description of: narcissistic personality disorder?

Accepted Answer

Narcissistic PD: Narcissistic personality d/o is a mental disorder with fixed and pervasive patterns of inner experience and outer behavior involving grandiosity, need for admiration, and lack of empathy for others. The person expects to be treated as superior, believes s/he is more special than others, and exploits others.  Beneath all this lies a fragile self-esteem, vulnerable to the slightest criticism.

Question 6

is a criminal who suffers from a mental illness or personality disorder really at fault for the crime(s) they commit?

Accepted Answer

It depends: This isn't exactly a medical question, it's more of a legal or moral one.  But laws in the us generally hold that if a person cannot tell right from wrong due to a mental illness, then they are "not guilty by reason of insanity" (or similar language depending on the state).  Most mental illness is not severe enough to meet this standard, and the "insanity defense" is actually used fairly rarely.

Question 7

what is a personality disorder.?

Accepted Answer

Longstanding traits: Personality disorders are characterized by longstanding behaviors that lead to impairments because of a person's interactional style and temperament.  There are several "clusters":  a) isolative, distrustful interactions with others; b) intense and/or destructive relationships, and c) unusual styles of interactions.  The key is that these are chronic styles, not episodes such as depression.

Question 8

what are symptoms of a personality disorder?

Accepted Answer

Personality DO: Depends on the personality disorder type. In general, personality do symptoms are chronic enduring maladaptive behavioral patterns that cause distress or interfere with daily functioning.

Question 9

how to tell if i have a personality disorder?

Accepted Answer

Think -Are, not have: A personality is what you're like, not something you have or get. It's not a disease, but a way of being that doesn't work very well. Borderline people flip between extreme attitudes of positive and negative on many, if not most things. It's hard for them to maintain anything for that reason. When they are pro, they love whatever it is, but it can and does change to con on a dime - and back again.

Question 10

borderloine personality disorder, what to do?

Accepted Answer

Therapy is key: Long-term psychotherapy is key to treatment of personality disorder though meds may have a role to play for certain symptoms. Mindfulness training can help. The kind of therapy shown to be most effective in studies is a kind of group therapy called dialectical behavior therapy. To get better, commit to longer term therapy starting with dbt. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Get Virtual Care

For Businesses

About Us

HealthTap Online Primary Care Doctors Accepting New Patients

Doctor answers about:

List of personality disorders and definitions

A member asked:

What is the definition or description of: personality disorder?

A member asked:

What is the definition or description of: avoidant personality disorder?

A member asked:

What is the definition or description of: histrionic personality disorder?

A member asked:

What is the definition or description of: borderline personality disorder?

A member asked:

What is the definition or description of: narcissistic personality disorder?

A member asked:

Is a criminal who suffers from a mental illness or personality disorder really at fault for the crime(s) they commit?

A member asked:

What is a personality disorder.?

A member asked:

What are symptoms of a personality disorder?

A member asked:

How to tell if i have a personality disorder?

A member asked:

Borderloine personality disorder, what to do?

HealthTap Online Primary Care Doctors Accepting New Patients

Telemedicine

Primary Care

Manage Your Conditions

Women's Health

Children's Health

Men's Health

Senior Health

Wellness, Prevention & Lifestyle

Sexual Health

Mental & Behavioral Health

Travel Medicine

Urgent Care

Didn't find what you're looking for?

More of what we treat

Allergies

Antibiotics

Asthma

High Blood Pressure

Prescriptions

Type 2 Diabetes

For Businesses

Company

Health Content

Join Us

Download HealthTap

Questions?