1. Ch. 18 Section 7: Personality Disorders
Obj: Distinguish personality disorders from other psychological disorders.

2. Personality disorders are patterns of inflexible traits that disrupt social life or work and/or distress the affected individual. They usually show up by late adolescence and affect all aspects of the individual’s personality, including thought processes, emotions, and behavior. It is important to note the distinction between personality disorders and other psychological disorders that they may resemble. Psychological disorders, such as schizophrenia or phobic disorder, for example, are episodes of illness that an individual experiences. They can be distinguished from the individual’s personality. In contrast, personality disorders are enduring traits that are major components of the individual’s personality.

3. Antisocial personality disorder is the only personality disorder for which there are data on prevalence. The estimates as to the number of affected individuals vary widely – from less than 1 percent to almost 10 percent.

4. Types of Personality Disorders
Paranoid Personality Disorder – People with paranoid personality disorder tend to be distrustful and suspicious of others and to interpret others’ motives as harmful or evil. They tend to perceive other people’s behavior as threatening or insulting, even when it is not. They are difficult to get along with – argumentative, yet cold and aloof. Not surprisingly, these people often lead isolated lives.

5. Unlike individuals with paranoid schizophrenia, people with paranoid personality disorder are not confused about reality. However, their view of reality is distorted, and they are unlikely to see their mistrust and suspicions as unfounded or abnormal.

6. Schizoid Personality Disorder – People with schizoid personality disorder have no interest in relationships with other people. They also lack normal emotional responsiveness. They do not have tender feeling for, or become attached to, other people. Thus, people with schizoid personalities tend to be loners, with few if any friends.
These symptoms are similar to some of the symptoms of schizophrenia. Unlike people with schizophrenia, however, people with schizoid personality disorder do not have delusions or hallucinations. They stay in touch with reality.

7. Antisocial Personality Disorder – People with antisocial personality disorder show a persistent behavior pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others. Typically, they do not feel guilt or remorse for their antisocial behaviors, and they continue the behaviors despite the threat of social rejection and punishment.
In childhood and early adolescence, a person with antisocial personality disorder may run away from home, hurt other people or animals, lie, or steal. In adulthood, the person may be aggressive and reckless, have a hard time holding a job, fail to pay bills and debts, or break the law. (Can be confused with a psychopath-who has no empathy at all)

8. Explaining Personality Disorders
Most personality disorders were not classified until 1980, with the publication of the third edition of the DSM. However, the concept of personality disorders is not new, and both psychological and biological theories have been suggested to explain certain types of personality disorders.

9. Psychological Views – Freud’s psychoanalytic theory regarding the antisocial personality type states that a lack of guilt underlies the antisocial personality. This lack of guilt is due to a problem in the development of the conscience, or superego. Research has found that children who are rejected by adults and harshly punished rather than treated with affection tend to lack a sense of guilt.

10. Some learning theorists have suggested that childhood experiences “teach” children how to relate to other people. If children are not reinforced for good behavior and only receive attention when they behave badly, they may learn antisocial behaviors. Such behaviors may persist into adulthood. Other learning theorists maintain that antisocial personality disorder develops when a child lacks appropriate role models and when the role models they encounter act aggressively.

11. Cognitive theorists have argued that antisocial adolescents tend to see other people’s behavior as threatening, even when it is not. They use this faulty interpretation of other people’s actions to justify their own antisocial behavior.

12. Biological Views – Genetic factors are apparently involved in some personality disorders. For example, antisocial personality disorder tends to run in families. Adoptee studies reveal higher incidence of antisocial behavior among the biological parents than among the adoptive relatives of individuals with the disorder.

13. The genetics of antisocial personal disorder may involve the frontal part of the brain, an area that is connected with emotional responses. There is some evidence that people with antisocial personality disorder have fewer neurons in the frontal part of the brain than other people. The fewer neurons could make the nervous system less responsive. As a result, such people would be less likely to show guilt for their misdeeds and to learn to fear punishment. But a biological factor is unlikely by itself to cause the development of an antisocial personality.

14. Narcissistic personality disorder – involves seeing oneself as the center of the universe.
Histrionic personality disorder – connotes overly dramatic behavior. Excessive emotionality, need for attention.
Borderline personality disorder – instability in interpersonal relationships and self-image.
Eating disorders – anorexia, bulimia, and obesity
Substance abuse
Developmental disorders – autism and ADHD
Paraphilias or Psychosexual disorders
Pedophilia, Zoophilia, Fetishism, Voyeur, Masochist, & Sadist