PSYC 2600 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Dsm-5, Interpersonal Relationship, Heritability
19 Jun 2018
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Week 12 Notes: Personality Disorders: Adjustment Domain
- They are related to poor adjustment, people with personality disorders are not living
normal lives, they have negative outcomes in life
Personality Disorders: enduring consistent patterns of behaviour that differ greatly from what
we expect in the majority of people
- Very small number of people have personality disorders
- They struggle to lead a normal life, they have poorer quality of life
- The pattern of maladjustment can be seen across situations
- The disorder tends to endure for the person’s entire life
What Defines Abnormal Personality?
Building Blocks of Personality Disorders
- Three domains: self, others, and the world
- We look at how these people act in those three domains
- Cognitive processes tend to be distorted that people lose track of what is real and what
is perception
Rigid ways of thinking that they think are normal, but that no one else does
- Extreme variations in extreme emotions
Borderline Personality disorder: they are very, very sensitive to any perception of
unfairness, rejection, humiliation
- Distortion of self-concept, how they see themselves and how they relate to others
Social Relationships:
- Patterns of behaviour are considered extreme
- Hard to study because there are so few people with personality disorders, and they
don’t think that anything is wrong with them, so they are less likely to present
themselves as participants
Ego syntonic: whatever the individual is experiencing, they don’t think that anything is
wrong, they think something is wrong with everyone else
Ego dystonic: the person knows that something is wrong and they experience distress
Biology:
- All personality disorders have modest to moderate heritability
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- There are certain genes that moderate serotonin and this gene is more likely to occur
with people with personality disorders
The Concept of the Disorder
Psychological Disorder: a pattern of behaviour that is distressing for the person and others
- If it continues for a long time, it leads to impairment
Abnormal Psychology: studying psychological disorders, the study of mental illness
- They are looking at risk factors for developing a personality disorder
What is Abnormal?
Statistical Definition: if something does not occur very often, it is abnormal
Social Definition: societal norms, different cultures have different norms that classify
behaviours in a different way
- Example: what is acceptable in Canada may not be acceptable elsewhere
Psychological Definition: the focus is on the person
- looks at these factors at whether these factors are helping them deal with stress, or if
they have ineffective coping efforts
- the field of psychological disorders include the statistical, social, and psychological
definitions
DSM-V: the most widely accepted system for describing and identifying psychological disorders
- since the 50s there has been 5 editions
Diagnostic Views of Personality Disorders
There are two views:
1. Categorical View
- You either have it or you don’t
2. Dimensional view
- Treats personality on a spectrum
- There is a movement towards the dimensional view, but right now we are still in the
categorical view
Dimensional View
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- Makes distinctions of personality traits and disorders in terms of how extreme they are,
how rigid they are, and how destructive their behaviour is (maladaptive)
- Right now, the categorical is used
DSM5- What is a Personality Disorder?
- Enduring behaviour that affects feelings, thoughts, and interpersonal relationship, and
self-control
Ego-Syntonic: they don’t they their beliefs and thoughts are problematic, other people are the
problem
- This is a major hurdle to seeking treatment and getting participants for studies
Basis for Diagnosis
- Based on the DSM-5
Clinical Therapist: the therapist can guide the sessions to determine if the patient has a
personality disorder
Self-Report Scales: three popular ones
- Based on people’s scores
Structured Interviews
Informant Reports:
Three Clusters:
- Know the three clusters
Cluster A: eccentric personality disorders
- Schizotypal, paranoid, schizoid
Cluster B:
- Histrionic, anti-social, borderline, narcissistic
- Erratic patterns of behaviour
Cluster C:
- Avoidant (anxious)
- OCPD
Narcissist Personality Disorder
- They think they are the best, they have a need for admiration, they don’t care about
others
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
They are related to poor adjustment, people with personality disorders are not living normal lives, they have negative outcomes in life. Personality disorders: enduring consistent patterns of behaviour that differ greatly from what we expect in the majority of people. Very small number of people have personality disorders. They struggle to lead a normal life, they have poorer quality of life. The pattern of maladjustment can be seen across situations. The disorder tends to endure for the person"s entire life. We look at how these people act in those three domains. Cognitive processes tend to be distorted that people lose track of what is real and what is perception. Rigid ways of thinking that they think are normal, but that no one else does. Borderline personality disorder: they are very, very sensitive to any perception of unfairness, rejection, humiliation. Distortion of self-concept, how they see themselves and how they relate to others.
