Personality Disorders
These conditions often require specialized care. We can help people cope with conditions such as avoidant, borderline, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorders.
Is Treatment Available In My State?What is Personality Disorder?
Personality disorders are mental illnesses that affect a patient’s ability to form and keep interpersonal relationships, adapt to the changing demands of life, and use healthy behavior patterns. People with disordered personalities often feel as though their behaviors are “normal,” but they struggle with their rigid worldviews and social difficulties.
Like all mental illnesses, a personality disorder disrupts a person’s life. Patients must meet several criteria before they receive a diagnosis of this kind. The psychologist must see deeply embedded behavior patterns that show that the patient’s perceptions, actions, thoughts, and relations with others are severely distorted.
Personality disorders tend to present in the teenage years, and symptoms continue well into adulthood. By middle age, the signs of the disease tend to be less evident than before.
How Common Are Personality Disorders?
An estimated ten percent of people in the world live with a personality disorder. While they are less common in popular media and general discussions than other disorders, personality disorders are relatively common. These disorders often occur alongside other types of mental health conditions, such as mood or anxiety disorders.
Lifestance Health specializes in Personality Disorders treatment with multiple locations in 33 states. Services and available treatments vary by location.
Find a provider near you:
- Arizona
- California
- Colorado
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Virginia
- Washington
- Wisconsin
Types of Personality Disorders
The mental health community divides personality disorders into three main categories, called clusters:
Cluster A, Suspicious
- Paranoid personality disorder
- Schizoid Personality Disorder
- Schizotypal Personality Disorder
Cluster B, Emotional and Impulsive
- Antisocial Personality Disorder
- Borderline Personality Disorder
- Histrionic Personality Disorder
- Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Custer C, Anxious
- Avoidant Personality Disorder
- Dependent Personality Disorder
- Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder
What Causes Personality Disorders?
Early childhood events, genetic predispositions, and environmental factors can all play roles in personality disorders. Experts do not entirely agree on the primary reasons that some people develop these illnesses, and the exact causes may vary among patients.
Behavioral health professionals can help patients with these disorders. Search our provider directory to find a top-rated therapist near you.
Personality Disorders FAQ
Personality disorders are mental illnesses that affect a person’s ability to form and keep relationships, develop healthy behavior patterns, adapt to the demands of life, and function well each day.
They can be. The genes you inherit from your family may make you vulnerable to developing a personality disorder, and the environmental and social situations you experience can trigger that development.
There is no known cure for personality disorders as of now, but there are effective treatment methods such as therapy, lifestyle changes, and medications for those who struggle with these conditions.
Research has identified a number of factors including genetics, trauma, abuse, and an unstable or chaotic family life that are usually present during the development of personality disorders.
Depending on the type of disorder, the first signs can be mood swings, depression, withdrawing socially, difficulty in having relationships, a decline in physical health, and having suicidal ideations.
Personality disorders typically emerge in adolescence and if they go undiagnosed, continue into adulthood. Without treatment, personality disorders can worsen and potentially become life-threatening.
Talk to someone who can help. LifeStance is your online resource for finding the right mental health professionals to deal with personality disorders, and other related mental health issues.
