A personality disorder is an enduring and inflexible pattern of long duration leading to significant distress or impairment and is not due to use of substances or another medical condition.
There are ten specific personality disorders: paranoid,schizoid, schizotypal, antisocial, borderline, histrionic, narcissistic, avoidant, dependant, and obsessive-compulsive disorders personality disorder.
These specific personality disorders are grouped into the following three clusters based on descriptive similarities:
Cluster A (odd or eccentric disorders)
- Paranoid Personality Disorder: pattern of irrational suspicion and mistrust of others, interpreting motivations as malevolent
- Schizoid Personality Disorder: cold affect and detachment from social relationships, apathy, and restricted emotional expression
- Schizotypal Personality Disorder: pattern of extreme discomfort interacting socially, and distorted cognition and perceptions
Cluster B (emotional or erratic disorders)
- Antisocial Personality Disorder: pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others, lack of empathy, lack of remorse, callousness, bloated self-image, and manipulative and impulsive behavior
- Borderline Personality Disorder: pervasive pattern of abrupt emotional outbursts, fear of abandonment, , altered empathy,and instability in relationships, self-image, identity, behavior and emotion often leading to self-harm and impulsivity
- Histrionic Personality Disorder: pervasive pattern of attention-seeking behavior, including excessive emotions, an impressionistic style of speech, inappropriate seduction, exhibitionism, and egocentrism
- Narcissistic Personality Disorder: pervasive pattern of, superior grandiosity, haughtiness, need for admiration, deceiving others, and lack of empathy (and, in more severe expressions, criminal behavior with remorse)
Cluster C (anxious or fearful disorders)
- Avoidant Personality Disordeer: pervasive feelings of social inhibition and inadequacy, and extreme sensitivity to negative evaluation
- Dependent Personality Disorder: pervasive psychological need to be cared for by other people
- Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder: rigid conformity to rules, perfectionism, and control to the point of exclusion of leisurely activities and friendships
There is an enduring pattern of inner experience and behavior that deviates markedly from the expectations of the individual’s culture. This pattern is manifested in two (or more) of the following areas:
- Cognition (i.e., ways of perceiving and interpreting self, other people, and events)
- Affectivity (i.e., the range, intensity, lability, and appropriateness of emotional response)
- Interpersonal functioning
- Impulse control
The enduring pattern leads to clinically significant distress, or impairment in functioning, in social, occupational, or other important areas.
The pattern is stable and of long duration, and its onset can be traced back at least to adolescence or early adulthood.
The enduring pattern is not better explained as a manifestation or consequence of another mental disorder.
The enduring pattern is not attributable to the physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or another medical condition (e.g., head trauma).