PSY 212 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Borderline Personality Disorder, Schizotypal Personality Disorder, Personality Disorder
29 Apr 2018
School
Department
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Professor
Personality Disorders
❖ Personality Trait versus Disorder
o Have few biological or observable signs
o Cannot be detected with a blood test
o Three Ps patterns of behavior
▪ Persistent (over time)
▪ Pervasive (over people and situations)
▪ Pathological (clearly abnormal)
❖ Personality Disorder Clusters
❖ Personality Disorder Cluster A
❖ Viewed as odd, quirky, or eccentric
o Paranoid Personality Disorder
▪ Distrustful and suspicious of others
▪ Believes others intend to harm or deceive
▪ Fears information will be used against him or her
▪ Questions loyalty and trustworthiness
▪ Suspects infidelity in a sexual or romantic partner
▪ Reads negative meaning into benign comments
▪ Is quick to rebut in an angry manner
o Schizoid Personality Disorder
▪ Pattern of social detachment and limited expression of emotion
▪ Lack of desire for relationships, few friends
▪ Preference for isolation
▪ General lack of emotionality
▪ Lack of enjoyment in activities
▪ Being neutral regarding praise or criticism
o Schizotypal Personality Disorder
▪ Inability to maintain close relationships and distortions in thought
▪ Unusual perceptual experiences and odd thinking or speech
▪ Suspiciousness and paranoia
▪ Inappropriate emotional expression
▪ Limited number of friends and relatives
▪ Odd, eccentric or peculiar behaviour
▪ Ideas of reference and abnormal beliefs
o An easy way to differentiate schizoid from schizotypal
▪ Schizoid shows difficulty forming relationships and expressing
emotions
▪ Schizotypal has the above but also exhibits psychotic features like
“magical thinking” and ideas of reference
▪ Most severe of the cluster A personality disorders
❖ Personality Disorder Cluster B
o Behaviors viewed as exaggerated, inflated, dramatic, emotional, or erratic
▪ Borderline personality disorder
• Pattern of unstable relationships, self-image, affect, and
impulsivity
• Chronic feelings of emptiness and emotional instability
• A pattern of strained interpersonal relationships
• Significant, consistent, unstable self-perception
• Impulsivity in at least 2 destructive areas
• Recurrent suicidal behaviour, threats or gestures
• Inappropriate irritability or expression of anger
• Ethics And Responsibility: BPD
o Common terms associated with BPD
▪ Difficult, treatment resistant, manipulative,
demanding, and attention seeking
o Negative perceptions can lead to negative expectations
and outcomes, and self-fulfilling prophecies
o Clinicians should only give diagnosis when symptoms are
consistent with criteria
▪ Antisocial personality disorder
• Disregard for the rights of others
• Failure to conform to social norms with respect to the law
• Impulsivity or lack of planning skills, irritability
• Regular irresponsibility
• Age at least 18 with evidence of conduct disorder before 15
• Real People, Real Disorders: Jeffrey Dahmer
