Personality Disorder Screening

A personality disorder consists of certain behaviors and patterns that result in emotional damage to an individual. Often times a person is unable to break the repetitive yet damaging patterns. A person with a personality disorder is often very rigid and has a dysfunctional way of dealing with people and situations. Many people do not even realize that they have personality disorder and often blame their unhappy situations on other people. A person that has a personality disorder will often exhibit certain types of risky behavior in regards to drugs and alcohol.

There are three different groups or clusters ” of common personality disorders.
The American Psychological Association is publishing numerous journals on the topic.

A person that has Paranoid personality disorder will often have trust issues. They are very suspicious of the people around them and generally mistrustful. Often the disorder disrupts a person’s life and they find themselves unable to enjoy relationships. It can also hinder a person’s ability to keep a job.

People with a Paranoid Personality Disorder are often controlling and jealous.

Another type of Cluster A disorder is Schizoid Personality Disorder. People that have this disorder often see no point in interacting socially with other people. They are loners and when they are in social situations they often act in odd ways and are also not very affectionate. Many of them do not have close relationships with other people and can be very secretive.

A diagnosis of Schizoid Personality Disorder can sometimes be the precursor to full blown schizophrenia.
The prognosis for this diagnosis usually isn’t good, since many people do not seek treatment for it.

The third type of disorder in Cluster A is called Schizotypal Personality Disorder. People with this disorder exhibit odd behaviors and can be very superstitious or have a weird fantasy life. Many times they prefer to be alone and are irrationally fearful, which means that they do not indulge in normal social interaction.

People with this disorder may have irrational beliefs in aliens, vampires and other mythical creatures.
Sometimes people with this disorder can have odd speech patterns.

There are four different disorders associated with Cluster B. They are often associated with overly emotional ways of behavior and thinking. Someone with Antisocial Disorder used to be known as a sociopath. They often have little to no regard of other people’s feelings and also believe that certain rules do not apply to them.

Antisocial disorder may be linked to genetic factors and environmental factors.
Substance abuse is often linked to people with this disorder.

People that have Borderline Personality Disorder will simply see the world in black and white. There is no gray area, things are always right or wrong. They are unstable in relationships and tend to be very moody. This disorder is often seen around adolescence and can lead to suicide or suicide attempts. They will often have anger issues and substance abuse problems.

Borderline Personality Disorder can be the result of poor bonding between mother and child or genetic factors.
Inflicting bodily harm is also associated with this disorder.

Symptoms of Histrionic Personality Disorder include exaggerated emotions and inappropriate sexual advances along with a compulsive need to seek as much attention as possible. It can result in risky sexual behavior. People with this disorder will also have inflated egos and can be very manipulative.

Women with this disorder tend to be very flirtatious and overly dramatic.
People with this disorder can be overly sensitive to negativity and criticism.

The fourth disorder in Cluster B is known as Narcissistic. People that have this disorder often portray arrogance and a lack of empathy. They believe that they are special and only want to interact with people that they pertain to be like themselves. They also believe themselves to be very important and have an overblown sense of entitlement.

People with this disorder are often difficult to maintain a relationship with.
Depression is another effect of Narcissistic personality disorder.

The third group of personality disorders is known as Cluster C. There are three distinct disorders associated with this group and they are often associated with anxiety and fear issues. The first classification is called Avoidant personality disorder. It is often associated with feelings of inadequacy and many people will shy away from social interaction because of the feeling of being socially inept.

Shame and inadequacy are two common traits of Avoidant personality disorder.
Avoidance of intimacy is another common symptom.

The Dependent personality sufferers will be overly dependent on other people for their emotional happiness. They often will want large amounts of reassurance that they are doing things correctly and need massive amounts of help even with simple decisions. They are often afraid of being alone and have a need to always be in a relationship.

Unlike other personality disorder that start in adolescence, a Dependent personality disorder can often start in childhood .
Coping skills are often non-existent in people with disorder.

Obsessive-Compulsive personality disorder is the third classification in Cluster C. People with disorder are often highly preoccupied with doing everything “right”. They often steadfastly adhere to rules and regulations and are nervous when they are not following routines.

People with Obsessive Compulsive personality disorders often hoard belongings.

They are also very inflexible and do not like changes in patterns or schedules.

Many people that have personality disorders are unaware that they have them. Many of the personality disorders share common symptoms and themes. Lack of coping skills and social interaction problems are two of the main issues. Many of them can be genetic and are further enhanced by environment. Screening and treatment for personality disorders is very important. There are various online screening services that can help a person find out whether or not they have a personality disorder and can even reveal which one they have. The sooner someone is diagnosed, the sooner they can start receiving treatment that may help them cope.

Online screening tests can be a helpful tool in determining a personality disorder.
When taking an online test be sure to answer the questions honestly.
Research is continually being done on personality disorders.
Personality tests are very useful to some people.
There are many different types of online personality tests to take.

Further Reading

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Personality Disorder Screening