Personality Disorders

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorCollege, Undergraduate November 2001

download word file, 3 pages 5.0

Every person has a personality, that is a way of thinking, feeling, behaving, and relating to others. Most people experience at least some difficulties and problems that result from their personality. The specific point at which those problems justify the diagnosis of a personality disorder is controversial. The definition of Personality Disorders is disorders in which one's personality results in personal distress or significantly impairs social or work functioning.

Personality disorders involve behavior that deviate from the norms or expectations of one's culture. However, people who deviate from cultural norms are not necessarily dysfunctional, and are not people who conform to cultural norms necessarily healthy. Many personality disorders represent extreme irregular behavior patterns that people usually value and encourage. There is no clear line between healthy and unhealthy functioning, people question the reliability of personality disorder diagnoses. A behavior that seems deviant to one person may seem normal to another depending on one's gender, ethnicity, and cultural background.

An estimated 20 percent of people in the general population have one or more personality disorders. Some people with personality disorders have other mental illnesses as well. About 50 percent of people who are treated for any psychiatric disorder have a personality disorder.

There are many kids of personality disorders, they are antisocial personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, Avoidant personality disorder, Dependent personality disorder, histrionic personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, paranoid personality disorder, and schizotypal personality disorder. Personality disorders result from a complex interaction of inherited traits and life experience, not from a single cause.

People with antisocial personality disorder act in a way that disregards the feelings and rights of other people. They may lie repeatedly, act impulsively, and get into physical fights. They may mistreat their spouses, neglect or abuse their children, and exploit...