research paper topics on personality disorders

63 Expert Personality Psychology Research Topics

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2. Relevance

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3. Feasibility

Before generating personal psychology research topics, we check if the procedures and research strategies are relevant and sustainable.

4. We select original topics

When selecting personality research topics, we check for interesting ones and originality. Since our writers are fascinated with reading psychological publishings, they develop original ideas thanks to their time to time exposure to materials.

5. We choose appealing research topics

Logically, personality psychology research topics must be interesting and appealing to you and your audience. Consequently, we have generated a variety of topics that will surely fascinate you.

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Best Personality Psychology Research Topics

If you select the best personal psychology research topics, you are sure of your grades. The following topics have been researched professionally to help you through your project.

A history of personality psychology: Theory and science
A review of emotion management and social adjustment for autistic children
Aggressive behavior in young adults with autism spectrum disorder
Autism and personality: traits in autism spectrum disorder
Behavior, performance, and effectiveness of personality psychology
Evolution of personality psychology: Human nature and differences in personality
Factors in mate selection: Mate preferences and marital satisfaction
How does culture influence an organized marriage
Impact of ADHD in character and personality development
Moral psychology for the modern era
Neuropsychology of borderline personality disorder
Neuropsychology of paranoid personality disorder
Personal growth experience of a sibling of a child with an autism spectrum disorder
Personal growth experience of parents to children with cerebral palsy
Personality and character difference between normal developing children and those suffering from cerebral palsy
Relationship between substance abuse relapses and personality disorder

Excellent Personality Psychology Research Topics

Are you looking for excellent personality psychology research topics? We have some for you.

Antisocial personality disorder: Criminal minds
Antisocial personality disorder: History, current status, and future directions
Avoidant personality disorder: History, current status, and future directions
Borderline personality disorder: History, current status, and future directions
Compare and contrast social phobia and avoidant personality disorder
Correlation between comorbid antisocial personality disorder in schizophrenia
Correlation between psychopathy in women and antisocial personality disorder
Correlation between self-esteem and avoidant personality disorder
Moral and social reasoning towards people with personality disorder
Neuropsychology of avoidant personality disorder
Neuropsychology of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder
Personality comparison of young adults with an autism spectrum disorder in comparison with young adults with personality disorders
Psychopathy aggression in male offenders with antisocial personality disorder
Social skills training in cerebral palsy disorder across the lifespan
Use of emotional signals in male and female offenders with personality disorder

Expert Personality Psychology Research Topics

If you need expert personality research topics, you are in the place. Take a look at the following ideas:

Correlation between schizophrenia and avoidant personality disorders
Histrionic personality disorder: History, current status, and future directions
Management and psychiatric treatment of avoidant personality disorders
Mind Reading dysfunction in narcissistic personality disorder compared to other personality disorders
Narcissistic personality disorder and romantic relationships: Impact of narcissistic romance and rivalry
Narcissistic personality disorder: History, current status, and future directions
Neuropsychology of histrionic personality disorder
Neuropsychology of obsessive-compulsive disorder
Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder: History, current status, and future directions
Paranoid personality disorder: History, current status, and future directions
Personality disorders in modern life
Poor metacognition in avoidant personality disorder
Redefining personality disorder diagnosis: integrating Artificial Intelligence and practice
Schizoid personality disorder: History, current status, and future directions
Social and family characteristics of people with dependent and histrionic personality disorders

Interesting Personality Psychology Research Topics

Finding interesting personality psychology research topics can be mind-boggling. To cut the hassle, we generated the following topics:

Correlation between personality disorders and depression
The current review of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder
Functional impairment in patients with Obsessive-compulsive, avoidant, narcissistic, and schizoid personality disorder
Cognitive therapy of narcissistic personality disorder
Neuropsychology of antisocial personality disorder
Dependent personality disorder: History, current status, and future directions
Neuropsychology of dependent personality disorder
Comparison between borderline personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder
Neuropsychology of narcissistic personality disorder
Diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder in correctional facilities
Genetic analysis of marriage and personality
Neuropsychology of schizoid personality disorder
The misunderstood: A review on patients with paranoid personality disorder
Impact of childhood trauma on paranoid personality disorder
Understanding and managing paranoid personality disorder
Status of paranoid personality disorder in your country: The role of race, drugs, and income
The relationship between childhood abuse and adulthood personality disorder

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Psychology Questions About Personality

Personality Psychology Research Topics

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

research paper topics on personality disorders

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List of Personality Topics

Before You Begin
Starting Your Research

Personality is a popular subject in psychology, so it's no surprise that this broad area is rife with fascinating research topics. There are many psychology questions about personality that can be a great topic for a paper, or just help you get to know others a little better.

Are you looking for a great topic for a paper , presentation, or experiment for your personality psychology class? Here are just a few ideas that might help kick-start your imagination.

At a Glance

If you are writing a paper, doing an experiment, or just curious about why people do the things they do, exploring some different psychology questions about personality can be a great place to start. Topics you might choose to explore include different personality traits, personality tests, and how different aspects of personality influence behavior.

Possible Topics for Personality Psychology Research

The type of psychology questions about personality that you might want to explore depend on what you are interested in and what you want to know. Some topics you might opt to explore include:

Personality Traits

How do personality traits relate to creativity? Are people with certain traits more or less creative? For your project, you might try administering scales measuring temperament and creativity to a group of participants.
Are certain personality traits linked to prosocial behaviors ? Consider how traits such as kindness, generosity, and empathy might be associated with altruism and heroism .
How does Type A behavior influence success in school? Are people who exhibit Type A characteristics more likely to succeed?
Is there a connection between a person's personality type and the kind of art they like? For example, are extroverts more drawn to brighter colors or art that depicts people vs. abstract, non-representational art?
Do people tend to choose pets based on their personality types? How do the personalities of dog owners compare to those of cat owners?

Personality Tests

How do personality assessments compare? Consider comparing common assessments such as the Myers-Briggs Temperament Indicator , the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, and the 16PF Questionnaire.
How reliable are personality test results? If you give someone the same test weeks later, will their results be the same?

Family and Relationships

Do people tend to marry individuals with similar personalities? Do people who marry partners with personalities similar to their own have more satisfying relationships?
What impact does birth order have on personality? Are first-born children more responsible, and are last-borns less responsible?

Personality and Behaviors

Is there a connection between personality types and musical tastes ? Do people who share certain personality traits prefer the same types of music?
Are people who participate in athletics more likely to have certain personality characteristics? Compare the personality types of athletes versus non-athletes.
Are individuals with high self-esteem more competitive than those with low self-esteem? Do those with high self-esteem perform better than those who have lower self-esteem?
Is there a correlation between personality type and the tendency to cheat on exams? Are people low in conscientiousness more likely to cheat? Are extroverts or introverts more liable to cheat?
How do personality factors influence a person's use of social media? For example, are people high in certain traits more likely to use Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter? Are individuals who use social media frequently more or less extroverted?

You can also come up with questions about your own about different topics in personality psychology. Some that you might explore include:

Big 5 personality traits
The id, ego, and superego
Psychosocial development
Hierarchy of needs
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Personality disorders

What to Do Before You Begin Your Research

Once you find a suitable research topic, you might be tempted just to dive right in and get started. However, there are a few important steps you need to take first.

Most importantly, be sure to run your topic idea past your instructor. This is particularly important if you are planning to conduct an actual experiment with human participants.

In most cases, you will need to gain your instructor's permission and possibly submit your plan to your school's human subjects committee to gain approval.

How to Get Started With Your Research

Whether you are doing an experiment, writing a paper , or developing a presentation, background research should always be your next step.

Consider what research already exists on the topic. Look into what other researchers have discovered. By spending some time reviewing the existing literature, you will be better able to develop your topic further.

What This Means For You

Asking psychology questions about personality can help you figure out what you want to research or write about. It can also be a way to think about your own personality or the characteristics of other people. If you're stumped for an idea, consider talking to your instructor or think about some questions you've had about people in your own life.

Atherton OE, Chung JM, Harris K, et al. Why has personality psychology played an outsized role in the credibility revolution ? Personal Sci . 2021;2:e6001. doi:10.5964/ps.6001

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Leite DFB, Padilha MAS, Cecatti JG. Approaching literature review for academic purposes: The Literature Review Checklist . Clinics (Sao Paulo) . 2019;74:e1403. doi:10.6061/clinics/2019/e1403

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

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89 BPD Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best bpd topic ideas & essay examples, 🎓 good research topics about bpd, ⭐ simple & easy bpd essay titles, ❓ research questions about borderline personality disorder.

Borderline Personality Disorder Better still, if a person is identified as being in the process of developing BPD, he/she should be advised accordingly and facilitated to avoid developing the disorder.
How Childhood Trauma Leads to BPD This paper intends to highlight the arguments and discussions that prove that childhood abuse and neglect contribute to the development of borderline disorder personality.
Borderline Personality Disorder Pathogenesis and Treatment The purpose of the paper is to describe the growth of the borderline personality disorder diagnosis, underlining the cause, symptoms, medications, and psychotherapy used to treat BPD.
Social Worker Treating Borderline Personality Disorder The fact that the patient has personality disorders affect the relationship between the physician and the patient itself and impacts the process of treatment and diagnosis.
Borderline Personality Disorder Case Report The client is a bright and ambitious woman who has trouble believing in her sense of self and what other people see in her.
Borderline Personality Disorder: History, Causes, Treatment Moreover, some forms of psychotherapy and medications have yielded results in treatment of BPD. It is estimated that co-morbidities occur in more than 85 percent of adults with BPD.
Borderline Personality Disorder in Female Patients As a Mental Health Support Worker at CAC, I had to carry out the suggested healthcare plans for women with BPD, as well as monitor the changes in the patients’ behaviour and report the observed […]
Borderline Personality Disorder and Dialectical Behavior Therapy According to Zimmerman, Chelminski, Dalrymple, and Martin, the first issue with this condition is that it has symptoms similar to those of a bipolar disorder, which makes it difficult to distinguish this illness.
Borderline Personality Disorder: Clinical Impression The patient expressed feeling tired of continuous treatment and regular hospitalizations and wanted to find the diagnosis that would allow her to take care of her child and get better.
Borderline Personality Disorder and Its Manifestation Thus, it is possible to discuss the borderline personality disorder in the context of Horney’s approach to the psychoanalysis with references to the role of parents and the other people in the personality’s development and […]
Borderline Personality Disorder: Diagnosis and Treatment The research problem in the study by Agnew, Shannon, Ryan, Storey, and McDonnell is the analysis of BPD from the perspective of the participants.
Borderline Personality Disorder: Karen’s Case More to the point, she offered the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders instrument that allowed revealing the disease and deciding on the corresponding treatment.
Borderline Personality Disorder as DSM–IV–TR Diagnosis Jena’s social and psychological health on the “Global Assessment of Functioning Scale” is about 19 based on her self-harm behaviors, promiscuity, drink-driving, alcoholism and irritability.
Borderline Personality Disorder Overview Patients with BPD often experience sudden mood swings and regularly change their interests and personal values due to the present uncertainty of their place in the world.
Psychological Therapy: Borderline Personality Disorder A mental status exam is required to determine if the patient has BPD, during which a specialist will ask questions and note the behavior and appearance of the individual.
Case History of a Borderline Personality Disorder A configuration of unsteady and acute relational associations characterized by oscillations between opposites of idealization and contraries of devaluation. Most commonly, the BPD patients might experience a life without sense of direction or meaning.
Borderline Personality Disorder: Therapeutic Advice Extended exploration of standardized testing includes a combined engagement of the response of the patient to testing and behaviors, focused testing in the evaluation interventions modules, a summative summary that is an interactive and engaging […]
Anakin Skywalker and Borderline Personality Disorder Yoda’s conversation with the apprentice raises a lot of concerns because his “fear of loss is a path to the Dark Side”. Anakin represents the exact opposite of Jedi morals, as his self-esteem is unstable […]
Causes of Borderline Personality Disorder In the two reviews I found, a great deal of emphasis is placed on the connection of the body and awareness of the individual.
Romantic Relationship Between Antisocial Personality Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder
Suicidal Ideation and Skill Use During In-Patient Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder
Sexual Abuse and Borderline Personality Disorder
Pregnant With Borderline Personality Disorder
Loneliness, Social Isolation, and Their Difference: A Cross-Diagnostic Study in Persistent Depressive Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy
Substance Abuse and Borderline Personality Disorder
Psychological Disorders and Borderline Personality Disorder
Treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder
Alternative Treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder
Antisocial Personality Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder, Alcohol Abuse, and Compulsive Self Harm Behaviors
Abusive Parents and Borderline Personality Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder: Situation of a Person With BPD
Distinguishing Bipolar and BPD Disorders
Mental Condition: Borderline Personality Disorder
Therapy Behaviors and Borderline Personality Disorder
Abnormal Child Psych and Borderline Personality Disorder
Familial and Clinical Correlates in Depressed Adolescents With Borderline Personality Disorder Traits
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Treatment and Borderline Personality Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder and Dependent Personality Disorder
The Symptoms and Effects of Borderline Personality Disorder
Emotional, Physical and Sexual Links to Borderline Personality Disorder
Fatal Attraction and BPD
Executive Dysfunction Associated With the Primary Psychopathic Features of Borderline Personality Disorder
Self-Injury Issues and Borderline Personality Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder: Difference Women’s and Men’s BPD
The Emotional Regulation Dysfunction and Its Effects on Borderline Personality Disorder Patients
Approach and Avoidance Behavior in Female Patients With Borderline Personality Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder: Affective Instability
The Diagnostic Criteria for the Borderline Personality Disorder in the United States
Major Depressive Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder
Social Perspectives and Borderline Personality Disorder
Bipolar Mood Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder, and Other Psychiatric Disorders
The Disrupted Self-Identity and the Enhancement of Self in the Illness Experiences of Individuals With the Bipolar Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder and Result Therapy
Women and Borderline Personality Disorder
Gender Differences and BPD
What Is Borderline Personality Disorder?
How Can Providers Help a Person With BPD Who Is in Denial of Their Diagnosis?
What Subtypes Are Present in Borderline Personality Disorder?
Do Individuals With BPD Often Lack Empathy or Have a Hard Time Caring About Others?
How Does Borderline Personality Disorder Affect Individuals?
What Is the Average Age of Onset of BPD? How Young Can Someone Be With a Diagnosis of BPD?
How Is Borderline Personality Disorder Related to Early Insecure Attachment?
What Are Other Forms of Treatment That Someone With BPD Can Receive? Are There Any FDA-Approved Medications for BPD?
How Quickly Can Treatment Start to Significantly Reduce Symptoms of BPD?
What Are Effective and Ineffective Things That the Partner of a Person With BPD Can Do to Support Them in Treatment?
Is BPD a Permanent Diagnosis or Is It Something That Can Be Brought on by Our Environment?
What Is the Relationship Between Substance Abuse Relapses and Personality Disorders?
Where Is the Knowledge Gap in Borderline Personality Disorder?
Are There Better Treatment For Borderline Personality Disorder?
Is Shame Dysregulation the Core Problem in Borderline Personality Disorder, or Just a Facet of It?
How Does Schema Therapy Work on Borderline Personality Disorder?
Can Borderline Personality Disorder Be Associated With Lack of Sleep?
Does Childhood Trauma Predispose the Person to Develop Borderline Personality Disorder?
Which Treatments Have Proven Effective in the Treatment of Chronic Emptiness in Borderline Personality Disorder?
Do Patients With Borderline PD Also Attract Diagnoses of Depression and Schizophrenia With Self-Report Rating Scales?
Can Family-Related Stress Trigger Bipolar Disorder and Hinder Recovery?
Does the Label or Diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder Lead to Better Clinical Care for These Patients?
What Can Help Clinicians Identify Features of Borderline Personality Disorder in Young People?
Which Psychosocial Therapy Is Most Effective for People With Borderline Personality Disorder?
What Is the Role of Inpatient Care in the Management of People With Borderline Personality Disorder?
Do Families and Carers of People With Borderline Personality Disorder Have Specific Care Needs?
What Is the Experience of People With Borderline Personality Disorder of Care in Different Settings?
Who Should Be Assessed for Borderline Personality Disorder?
What Is the Prognosis for Patients With Borderline Personality Disorder?
Is There Medication for Borderline Personality Disorder? If So, Is It Effective?
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Personality Disorders Research Paper

Sample Personality Disorders Research Paper. Browse other research paper examples and check the list of research paper topics for more inspiration. If you need a research paper written according to all the academic standards, you can always turn to our experienced writers for help. This is how your paper can get an A! Feel free to contact our custom research paper writing service for professional assistance. We offer high-quality assignments for reasonable rates.

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) includes 10 personality disorders in their Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders–Fourth Edition ( DSM-IV; APA, 1994, 2000): paranoid, schizoid, schizotypal, antisocial, borderline, histrionic, narcissistic, avoidant, dependent, and obsessive-compulsive. We discuss each of these personality disorders individually later in this research paper. The 10 officially recognized personality disorders are further organized into three clusters based on descriptive similarities: Cluster A (odd-eccentric) includes paranoid, schizoid, and schizotypal; Cluster B (dramatic-erraticemotional) includes antisocial, borderline, histrionic, and narcissistic; and Cluster C (anxious-fearful) includes avoidant, dependent, and obsessive-compulsive. Two additional personality disorders (passive-aggressive and depressive) are provided within an appendix to DSM-IV for diagnoses that are not yet officially recognized. DSMIV also includes the diagnosis of personality disorder not otherwise specified (PDNOS), a diagnosis clinicians can provide when they believe that a personality disorder is present but the symptomatology of the patient is not adequately represented by one of the 10 officially recognized diagnoses.

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“Personality traits are enduring patterns of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and oneself that are exhibited in a wide range of social and personal contexts” (APA, 2000, p. 686). It is when “personality traits are inflexible and maladaptive and cause significant functional impairment or subjective distress [that] they constitute personality disorders” (APA, 2000, p. 686). DSM-IV (1994, 2000) provides a formal and general definition of personality disorder that is particularly important to consider when using the PDNOS diagnosis. Table 6.1 presents these general diagnostic criteria.

The general diagnostic criteria are concerned primarily with documenting that the symptomatology concerns personality functioning (i.e., an enduring pattern of inner experience that is pervasive across a broad range of personal and social functioning) rather than another domain of psychopathology (e.g., mood or anxiety disorder). However, we want to highlight here three of the general diagnostic criteria.

First, it is stated in DSM-IV that a personality disorder “leads to clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning” (APA, 2000, p. 689). A difficulty many clinicians have with personality disorder (and other mental disorder) diagnosis is the absence of any definition or guidelines for what is meant by a clinically significant impairment (Spitzer & Wakefield, 1999; Widiger & Corbitt, 1994). DSM-IV states only that it is “an inherently difficult clinical judgment” (APA, 2000, p. 8).

DSM-III through DSM-IV have provided specific rules for when enough features of a specific personality disorder, such as schizoid or borderline, are present in order for it to be diagnosed, but the rationale for these diagnostic thresholds are unexplained and do not appear to bear a relationship to the presence of a clinically significant level of impairment (Widiger & Corbitt, 1994). In the absence of any guidelines or rationale for the diagnostic thresholds, it is not surprising to find substantial variation in the diagnostic thresholds across each edition. For example, Morey (1988) reported an 800% increase in the number of persons beyond the threshold for a schizoid diagnosis in DSM-III-R as compared to DSM-III and a 350% increase for the narcissistic diagnosis. Some of this shift in prevalence might have been intentional (Widiger, Frances, Spitzer, & Williams, 1988), but much of it was unanticipated (Blashfield, Blum, & Pfohl, 1992). An important focus of future research and DSM-V will be the development of a clearer distinction between the presence and absence of a mental disorder (Spitzer & Wakefield, 1999; Widiger, 2001).

A second point of emphasis with respect to the general definition of personality disorder is that personality disorder symptomatology is stable over time and of long duration. The onset of a personality disorder must be traceable back to adolescence or early adulthood. Temporal stability is fundamental to the concept of personality and to the diagnosis of personality disorders (Tickle, Heatherton, & Wittenberg, 2001). However, the extent to which this fundamental component of personality is in fact assessed by researchers and clinicians is unclear. Clinicians and researchers tend to emphasize current symptomatology, and they may do so at the neglect of determining whether the symptomatology has in fact been present throughout much of a person’s life; this at times contributes to overdiagnosis and to a failure to adequately distinguish personality disorders and other mental disorders.

Finally, the symptoms of a personality disorder are said in the general definition to deviate from the expectations of one’s culture. The purpose of this DSM-IV cultural deviation requirement is to decrease the likelihood that clinicians will impose the expectations of their own culture onto a patient (Rogler, 1996). The DSM-IV cultural deviation requirement emphasizes that a behavior pattern that appears to be deviant from the perspective of one’s own culture might be quite normative and adaptive within another culture. Therefore, the expectations or norms within the clinician’s culture might not necessarily be relevant or applicable to a patient from a different cultural background. For example, “what is considered to be excessively inhibited in one culture may be courteously dignified within another” (Widiger, Mangine, Corbitt, Ellis, & Thomas, 1995, p. 212).

However, one should not infer from the cultural deviation requirement that a personality disorder is simply a deviation from a cultural norm. Optimal, healthy functioning does not necessarily involve adaptation to cultural expectations, nor does adaptation to cultural expectations necessarily ensure the absence of maladaptive personality traits (Wakefield, 1992). In fact, some of the personality disorders may represent—at least in part—excessive or exaggerated expressions of traits that a culture values or encourages, at least within some members of that culture (Alarcon, 1996; Rogler, 1996; Widiger & Spitzer, 1991). For example, it is usually adaptive to be confident but not to be arrogant, to be agreeable but not to be submissive, or to be conscientious but not to be perfectionistic.

Clinical Importance of Personality Disorders

The diagnosis of personality disorders can be quite difficult and even controversial. Nevertheless, the importance in assessing for the presence of personality disorders in clinical practice equals the difficulties of their diagnosis. A formal recognition by the American Psychiatric Association of the importance of personality classification to clinical diagnosis and treatment planning was demonstrated by the provision of a separate diagnostic axis (Axis II) devoted to personality disorders in DSM-III (APA, 1980; Frances, 1980). Personality disorders (along with mental retardation) continue to be placed on a separate axis for diagnosis in DSM-IV; all other mental disorders are diagnosed on Axis I (APA, 2000).

The valid, accurate assessment of personality disorders is important for several reasons. First, the existing large-scale studies that have assessed individuals for the full range of Axis I and Axis II disorders indicate that personality disorders are prevalent in both clinical and nonclinical populations (Mattia & Zimmerman, 2001). For example, Koenigsberg, Kaplan, Gilmore, and Cooper (1985) reported that 36% of over 2,000 psychiatric patients in their sample received a personality disorder diagnosis, whereas Zimmerman and Coryell (1989) reported that approximately 18% of a nonclinical, community sample received a personality disorder diagnosis. Prevalence rates of personality disorders are also substantial outside of the United States. For example, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Alcohol, Drug Abuse, Mental Health Administration (ADAMHA) Joint Program on the Diagnosis and Classification of Mental Disorders, Alcoholism, and Drug Abuse initiated the International Pilot Study of Personality Disorders (Loranger et al., 1994). The first report from a field trial evaluating 716 patients from 11 countries indicated that 51.1% of the patients met criteria for at least one DSM-III-R personality disorder.

Although a number of large-scale, community epidemiological studies on Axis I disorders have been conducted, we know much less about the prevalence of personality disorders in the general population. Antisocial personality disorder was the only personality disorder included in the Epidemiological CatchmentArea (ECA) study (Robins & Regier, 1991) and the National Comorbidity Study (NCS; Kessler, 1999), from which most of our estimates on the prevalence of mental disorders in the community are drawn. Table 6.2 presents our best estimates of the prevalence of the full range of DSM personality disorders, drawn from the DSM-IV text (APA, 2000), several empirical studies (Maier, Lichtermann, Klinger, & Heun, 1992; Samuels, Nestadt, Romanoski, Folstein, & McHugh, 1994; Zimmerman & Coryell, 1989), and prior reviews (Lyons, 1995; Mattia & Zimmerman, 2001; Weissman, 1993). Across studies that used the DSM criteria to estimate the prevalence of current personality disorder (i.e., one or more diagnoses) the average estimate was 11.25% (range = 7.3–17.9%). For comparison, the past year prevalence estimates for major depressive episode were 3.7% (ECA) and 10.3% (NCS), for generalized anxiety disorder were 3.8% (ECA) and 3.1% (NCS), for alcohol use disorder were 6.3% (ECA) and 9.7% (NCS), and for drug use disorder were 1.2% (ECA) and 3.6% (NCS). Therefore, personality disorder does appear to be relatively prevalent in the community. The Cluster B disorders (especially antisocial, borderline, and histrionic) appear to be the most prevalent personality disorders.

Many studies have also documented that personality disorders are associated with significant social and occupational dysfunction, comorbid Axis I psychopathology, and even suicidal state (e.g., Bernstein et al., 1993; Daley, Burge, & Hammen, 2000; Johnson, Cohen, Brown, Smailes, & Bernstein, 1999; Trull, Useda, Conforti, & Doan, 1997), and these relations remain significant after controlling for Axis I disorder and demographic variables (e.g., age, gender). For example, one of the more well-validated personality disorders is the antisocial or psychopathic (Stoff, Breiling, & Maser, 1997). Persons who have met the diagnostic criteria for this personality disorder have been shown to be at significant risk for unemployment, impoverishment, injury, violent death, substance andalcoholabuse,incarceration,recidivism(paroleviolation), and significant relationship instability (Hart & Hare, 1997; L. N. Robins,Tipp, & Przybeck, 1991).

Maladaptive personality traits will be evident among many patients seeking treatment for an Axis I mental disorder. For example, Trull, Sher, Minks-Brown, Durbin, and Burr (2000) estimated that approximately 57% of patients with borderline personality disorder will meet criteria for one or more substance use disorders (primarily alcohol use disorder), whereas approximately 27% of those with one or more substance use disorders should also receive a borderline diagnosis.Thus, the comorbidity rates for the substance use and borderline personality disorder are quite substantial, and the presence of a personality disorder will often result in an increased utilization of mental health services (Bender et al., 2001).

Investigators have reported that a comorbid diagnosis of personality disorder in depressed, substance-abusing, and anxiety-disordered patients suggests poorer prognosis (Dolan-Sewell, Krueger, & Shea, 2001;Trull et al., 2000).Antisocial patients can be irresponsible, unreliable, or untrustworthy; paranoid patients can be mistrustful, accusatory, and suspicious; dependent patients can be excessively needy; passive-aggressive patients can be argumentative and oppositional; and borderline patients can be intensely manipulative and unstable (Sanderson & Clarkin, 1994; Stone, 1993). The manner and extent to which a patient’s personality facilitates and hinders clinical treatment—and the extent to and manner in which they result in clinically significant maladaptive functioning—should be a routine consideration of every clinician(Harkness&Lilienfeld,1997).“Inthe DSM-III, then, personality not only attained a nosological status of prominence in its own right but was assigned a contextual role that made it fundamental to the understanding and interpretation of other psychopathologies” (Millon & Frances, 1987, p. ii).

In sum, the placement of personality disorders on a separate axis does have a meaningful rationale and justification, but the separate placement has also become controversial and perhaps misunderstood. Some have interpreted the placement on a separate axis to imply that personality disorders (along with mental retardation) are largely untreatable. Personality disorders are indeed among the most difficult of mental disorders to treat, in part because they involve pervasive and entrenched behavior patterns that have been present throughout much of a person’s life. In addition, people consider many of their personality traits to be integral to their sense of self, and they may even value particular aspects of their personality that a clinician considers to be important targets of treatment (Stone, 1993). Nevertheless, contrary to popular perception, personality disorders are not untreatable. Maladaptive personality traits are often the focus of clinical treatment (Beck, Freeman, & Associates, 1990; Linehan, 1993; Millon et al., 1996; Soloff, Siever, Cowdry, & Kocsis, 1994; Stone, 1993), and there is compelling empirical support to indicate that meaningful responsivity to treatment does occur (Perry, Banon, & Ianni, 1999; Sanislow & McGlashan, 1998). Treatment of a personality disorder is unlikely to result in the development of a fully healthy or ideal personality structure (whatever that may entail), but clinically and socially meaningful change to personality structure and functioning can occur.

Assessment of DSM-IV Personality Disorders

There are five methods commonly used for the assessment of personality disorders in research and general clinical practice: self-report inventories, unstructured clinical interviews, semistructured clinical interviews, projective techniques, and informant reports. Each of these methods is discussed briefly in turn.

First, several self-report inventories have been developed that include items that purportedly assess individual DSM-IV personality disorder criteria (e.g., the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire–4; Hyler, 1994). However, because these instruments do not include appropriate time frames in their instructions (e.g., do not assess whether the diagnostic criteria were evident since young adulthood) and do not assess whether a clinically significant level of impairment or distress is associated with the endorsed personality disorder symptoms, self-report personality disorder inventories may be best suited for screening measures—not as diagnostic instruments. The prevalence rates obtained by these inventories tend to be dramatically higher than those estimated by interview measures of personality disorders and well beyond theoretical expectations for most of the personality disorders (Clark & Harrison, 2001; Kaye & Shea, 2000; Westen, 1997; Zimmerman, 1994). On the other hand, the tendency of selfreport inventories to err in the direction of overdiagnosis does make them suitable as screening measures. The administration of a self-report inventory prior to a clinical interview can save a considerable amount of interviewing time and alert the clinician to areas of personality dysfunction that might have otherwise not have been anticipated or noticed (Widiger, 2002). The generally preferred method of assessment in clinical practice is an unstructured clinical interview (Westen, 1997), whereas the preferred method within clinical research is the semistructured interview (Rogers, 1995; Zimmerman, 1994). Unstructured clinical interviews can be highly problematic because they are often idiosyncratic, less reliable, and more susceptible than are semistructured interviews to attributional errors, halo effects, and false assumptions, including gender biases (Garb, 1997; Widiger, 1998). Convergent validity data have been consistently weakest when one of the measures was an unstructured clinical interview (Widiger, 2002). A variety of studies have indicated that clinicians relying upon unstructured clinical interviews routinely fail to assess for the presence of the specified diagnostic criteria. One of the more compelling demonstrations of this failure was provided by Morey and Ochoa (1989). Morey and Ochoa provided 291 clinicians with the 166 DSM-III (APA, 1980) personality disorder diagnostic criteria and asked them to indicate, for one of their patients, which DSM-III personality disorder(s) were present and which of the 166 DSM-III personality disorder diagnostic criteria were present. Kappa for the agreement between their diagnoses and the diagnoses that would be given based upon their own assessment of the diagnostic criteria was poor, ranging from .11 (schizoid) to .58 (borderline), with a median kappa of only .25. These findings were subsequently replicated by Blashfield and Herkov (1996). “It appears that the actual diagnoses of clinicians do not adhere closely to the diagnoses suggested by the [diagnostic] criteria” (Blashfield & Herkov, 1996, p. 226).

Patients often meet the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for more than one personality disorder, yet clinicians typically provide only one diagnosis to each patient (Gunderson, 1992). Clinicians tend to diagnose personality disorders hierarchically. After a patient is identified as having a particular personality disorder (e.g., borderline), clinicians often fail to assess whether additional personality traits are present (Herkov & Blashfield, 1995). Adler, Drake, and Teague (1990) provided 46 clinicians with case histories of a patient that met the DSM-III criteria for four personality disorders (i.e., histrionic, narcissistic, borderline, and dependent). “Despite the directive to consider each category separately . . . most clinicians assigned just one [personality disorder] diagnosis” (Adler et al., 1990, p. 127). Sixty-five percent of the clinicians provided only one diagnosis, 28% provided two, and none provided all four. Comorbidity among mental disorders is a pervasive phenomenon that can have substantial significance and importance to clinical treatment and outcome research(Clark,Watson,&Reynolds,1995;Sher&Trull,1996; Widiger & Clark, 2000), yet comorbidity may be grossly underrecognized in general clinical practice. Zimmerman and Mattia (1999b) compared the Axis I clinical diagnoses provided for 500 patients who were assessed with unstructured clinical interviews with the diagnoses provided by a semistructured interview. More than 90% of the patients receiving the unstructured clinical interview were provided with only oneAxis I diagnosis, whereas more than a third of the patients assessed with the semistructured interview were discovered to have met the diagnostic criteria for at least two additional Axis I disorders. Zimmerman and Mattia (1999a) also reported that clinicians diagnosed less than 1% of the patients with borderline personality disorder, whereas 14% were diagnosed with this disorder when a semistructured interview was used. Zimmerman and Mattia (1999a) then provided the clinicians with the additional information obtained by the more systematic semistructured interview. “Providing the results of [the] semistructured interview to clinicians prompts them to diagnose borderline personality disorder much more frequently” (Zimmerman & Mattia, 1999a, p. 1570). The rate of diagnosis increased from .4% to 9.2%.

The reluctance to use semistructured interviews in general clinical practice is understandable because they are constraining, may at times be impractical, and can appear to be superficial (Westen, 1997). However, they are particularly advisable when questions regarding the reliability or validity of an assessment are likely to be raised (Widiger, 2002). Semistructured interviews are helpful in ensuring that the interview will be systematic, comprehensive, replicable, and objective (Widiger & Coker, 2002). Diagnoses derived from the administration of a semistructured interview have often been used as the standard by which the validity of other measures are evaluated. Minimally, semistructured interviews are useful in providing to the clinician a set of useful suggestions for a variety of possible inquiries to use for the assessment of each diagnostic criterion.

Several semistructured interviews for the assessment of DSM-IV personality disorders are available (Clark & Harrison, 2001; Kaye & Shea, 2000; Widiger, 2002; Widiger & Coker, 2002; Zimmerman, 1994). Regrettably, there have been only a few studies concerned with their convergent validity.This limited research has suggested questionable validity with respect to agreement for the presence of categorical diagnoses but acceptable to good convergent validity with respect to the assessment of the extent to which respective personality disorder symptomatology are present (e.g., Skodol, Oldham, Rosnick, Kellman, & Hyler, 1991).

A potential disadvantage of self-report inventories and semistructured interviews is their emphasis on self-report (Bornstein, 1995; Westen, 1997). Personality disorders are characterized in part by distortions in self-image and selfpresentation, which may not be assessed adequately simply by asking respondents if they have each diagnostic criterion. However, it is important to emphasize that neither self-report inventories nor semistructured interviews rely upon accurate self-report. Semistructured interviews include many openended questions, indirect inquiries, and observations of the respondents’manner of relating to the interviewer. Interviewers administering a semistructured interview do not simply record respondents’ answers to queries, but are instead using their clinical expertise to rate each diagnostic criterion based in part on direct, indirect, and open-ended questions that have been found by experienced investigators to be effective for assessing whether a particular diagnostic criterion is present.

Projective tests are less dependent on the ability or willingness of a person to provide an accurate self-description (Bornstein, 1995), but there is currently only limited empirical support for the use of projective techniques for the assessment of the DSM-IV personality disorders. Supportive research has been reported for the assessment of histrionic, narcissistic, antisocial, and borderline personality traits (e.g., Blais, Hilsenroth, & Fowler, 1998; Hilsenroth, Handler, & Blais, 1996), but no projective test currently provides a systematic or comprehensive assessment of the DSM-IV personality disorders. There is also disagreement concerning the extent of the empirical support for projective tests (Acklin, 1999; Archer, 1999; Garb, 1999; Weiner, 1999; Wood & Lilienfeld, 1999).

An underutilized method of personality disorder assessment is informant report (Clark, Livesley, & Morey, 1997). Informants (e.g., family members, close friends) can provide an historical perspective on an individual’s personality functioning and thus may lack the significant personality or Axis I pathology that can complicate a patient’s self-description. Selfand informant assessments of personality disorder symptomatology often fail to agree, and it is not yet certain which perspective should be considered to be more valid (Bernstein et al., 1997; Riso, Klein, Anderson, Ouimette, & Lizardi, 1994; Widiger, 2002; Zimmerman, 1994). Relatives and close friends will not know everything about a person that would be necessary to provide a valid description, they may have their own axes to grind, and they may have false assumptions or expectations concerning the identified target. Nevertheless, informant reports of personality disorder features remains a promising method that deserves more research attention. Oltmanns and his colleagues have been conducting a particularly creative and intriguing investigation of the agreement and disagreement between self-descriptions and peer nominations of air force recruits (Oltmanns,Turkheimer, & Strauss, 1998).

The DSM-IV Personality Disorders

Up to this point, we have reviewed the definition of personality disorder, its clinical importance, and its assessment. In the following sections we describe briefly each of the 10 personality disorders included in DSM-IV.

Paranoid Personality Disorder

Description.

Paranoid personality disorder (PPD) is characterized by an allpervasive distrust and suspiciousness of others (Miller, Useda, Trull, Burr, & Minks-Brown, 2001). To receive a DSM-IV PPD diagnosis, one must exhibit at least four of seven diagnostic criteria that are—for the most part—indicators of a suspicious interpersonal style and a tendency to read malevolent intentions into what are truly innocuous or neutral interactions or events (APA, 1994, 2000).As one might guess, individuals with PPD are rather difficult to get along with, and they are likely to be argumentative, hostile, and overly sarcastic. They may blame others for their own difficulties and misfortunes and are unlikely to be able to work collaboratively or closely with others. They might maintain a steady employment but will often be difficult coworkers because they tend to be rigid, controlling, critical, blaming, and prejudicial. They might become involved in lengthy, acrimonious, and litigious disputes that are difficult if not impossible to resolve.

Epidemiology

DSM-IV estimates that only 0.5–2.5% of the general population qualify for a PPD diagnosis, and epidemiological studies of community samples (see Table 6.2) support this estimate. Although PPD may be more prevalent in clinical samples, it is unlikely that PPD will be the patient’s presenting problem. The available studies indicate that more men than women are diagnosed with PPD (Corbitt & Widiger, 1995; Miller et al., 2001). There are no strong empirical data to suggest that members of certain racial or ethnic groups are more likely to receive a PPD diagnosis. In fact, DSM-IV cautions against overinterpreting anger and frustration in response to perceived neglect or guardedness sometimes exhibited by individuals from other cultures or backgrounds.

There is little research to indicate a direct inheritance of PPD (McGuffin & Thapar, 1992; Nigg & Goldsmith, 1994). There has been research to indicate a genetic contribution to the development of paranoid personality traits, if these traits are conceptualized as being on a continuum with general personality functioning (Jang, McCrae, Angleitner, Reimann, & Livesley, 1998; Livesley, Jang, & Vernon, 1998; Nigg & Goldsmith, 1994). There is some support for a genetic relationship of PPD with schizophrenia and delusional disorder (persecutory type), but these findings have not always been replicated and the positive results may have been due in part to the overlap of PPD with the schizotypal personality disorder (Miller et al., 2001; Siever, 1992).

There has been speculation on the neurophysiology that might underlie the personality disorders within the oddeccentric cluster (Cloninger, 1998; Siever & Davis, 1991) but research has been confined largely to the schizotypal personality disorder. There has been little consideration given to the neurophysiological concomitants of nonpsychotic paranoid personality traits.

Attention has been given to cognitive and interpersonal models for the development of paranoid personality traits. Paranoid beliefs may have a self-perpetuating tendency due to the focus on signs of and evidence for malicious intentions (Beck et al., 1990). From this perspective, the pathology of PPD would be inherent to the irrationality of the belief systems and would be sustained by biased information processing. There might also be an underlying motivation or need to perceive threats in others and to externalize blame that help to sustain the accusations and distortions (Stone, 1993).

There are few systematic studies on psychosocial contributions to the development of PPD. There are retrospective data indicating that persons with this personality disorder considered their parents to be excessively critical, rejecting, withholding, and at times even abusive (e.g., Modestin, Oberson, & Erni, 1998; Norden, Klein, Donaldson, Pepper, & Klein, 1995); however, the retrospective nature of these studies is problematic (paranoid persons might not be providing accurate descriptions of prior relationships) and the childhood experiences that have been identified are not specific to this personality disorder (Miller et al., 2001). There are presently no prospective longitudinal studies that have explored the development of paranoid personality traits.

Premorbid traits of PPD that might be evident prior to adolescence include isolation, hypersensitivity, hypervigilance, social anxiety, peculiar thoughts, and idiosyncratic fantasies (APA, 1994, 2000). As children, they may appear odd and peculiar to their peers and may not have achieved to their capacity in school. Mistrust and suspicion is often evident in members of minority groups, immigrants, refugees, and other groups for whom such distrust is often a realistic and appropriate response to their social environment. It is conceivable that a comparably sustained experience through childhood and adolescence could contribute to the development of excessive paranoid beliefs that are eventually applied inflexibly and inappropriately to a wide variety of persons, but it can be very difficult to determine what is excessive or unrealistic suspicion and mistrust within a member of an oppressed minority (Alarcon & Foulks, 1996; Whaley, 1997). Paranoid suspiciousness could in fact be more closely associated with prejudicial attitudes, wherein a particular group in society becomes the inappropriate target of one’s anger, blame, and resentment.

Schizoid Personality Disorder

Schizoid personality disorder (SZPD) is characterized by social detachment and isolation as well as by restricted emotional experience and expression (APA, 2000; Miller et al., 2001). Individuals with this personality disorder not only choose to be by themselves, but they also have little interest in establishing or maintaining interpersonal relationships. In addition, SZPD individuals show little emotional expression and may not even appear to experience much pleasure, joy, or sadness. They have few friendships. Those that do occur are likely to have been initiated by the other person. They will have had few sexual relationships and may never marry. Relationships will fail to the extent to which the other person desires or needs emotional support, warmth, and intimacy. Persons with SZPD may do well within an occupation as long as substantial social interaction is not required. They would prefer to work in isolation. They may eventually find employment and a relationship that is relatively comfortable or tolerable to them, but they could also drift from one job to another and remain isolated throughout much of their lives. If they do eventually become parents, they have considerable difficulty providing warmth and emotional support and may appear neglectful, detached, and disinterested.

SZPD, as diagnosed by DSM-IV, does appear to be relatively uncommon in both clinical and nonclinical settings. Estimates of this disorder in the general population have been less than 1% (see Table 6.2). Over the years, the definition of SZPD has become more restricted, and many of the features once associated with this disorder prior to DSM-III (APA, 1980) are now part of the criterion sets of other disorders (e.g., avoidant and schizotypal; Miller et al., 2001). DSM-IV states that SZPD is diagnosed more frequently in men than in women; however, the empirical findings are mixed (Corbitt & Widiger, 1995). It is also important to caution against overdiagnosing SZPD in individuals from other cultures or minority ethnic backgrounds. Such individuals may appear somewhat introverted or isolated, as well as emotionally aloof, simply because they are being interviewed or observed by someone from another culture or because their culture is not, on average, as affiliative or emotionally expressive as the majority cultures in the United States.

There is little research to indicate a direct inheritance of SZPD (McGuffin & Thapar, 1992; Nigg & Goldsmith, 1994). A substantial amount of research has supported the heritability for the general personality dimension of introversion (Jang & Vernon, 2001; Plomin & Caspi, 1999), and SZPD does appear to be essentially equivalent to the social withdrawal and anhedonia evident within extreme introversion (Trull, 1992; Trull et al., 1998). A genetic association with schizophrenia has at times been reported, but this association might be explained by the overlap of SZPD with schizotypal personality traits (Fulton & Winokur, 1993; Miller et al., 2001; Siever, 1992).

Psychosocial models for the etiology of SZPD are lacking. It is possible that a sustained history of isolation during infancy and childhood, with an encouragement or modeling by parental figures of interpersonal withdrawal, social indifference, and emotional detachment could contribute to the development of schizoid personality traits, but there is no systematic research to support this hypothesis. Persons with SZPD are likely to have been socially isolated and withdrawn as children. They may not have been accepted well by their peers and may have even been the brunt of some ostracism (APA, 1994, 2000). However, systematic research on the childhood development of SZPD is lacking (Bernstein & Travaglini, 1999; Milleretal., 2001). The central pathology of SZPD might be anhedonic deficits, or an excessively low ability to experience positive affectivity (Rothbart & Ahadi, 1994; Siever, 1992). A fundamental distinction of schizophrenic symptomatology is between positive and negative symptoms. Positive symptoms include hallucinations, delusions, inappropriate affect, and loose associations; negative symptoms include flattened affect, alogia, and avolition. SZPD may represent subthreshold negative symptoms, comparable to the subthreshold positive symptoms (cognitive-perceptual aberrations) that predominate schizotypal PD.

Schizotypal Personality Disorder

Schizotypal personality disorder (STPD) is characterized by a pervasive pattern of interpersonal deficits, cognitive and perceptual aberrations, and behavioral eccentricities (APA, 2000; Miller et al., 2001). Persons with STPD exhibit excessive social anxiety that is related to paranoid fears. They also appear odd, eccentric, or peculiar in their behavior or appearance, display inappropriate or constricted affect, and have few (if any) friends or confidants outside of their immediate family. Also striking are the STPD individual’s unusual ideas, beliefs, and communication. Those with this personality disorder tend to misinterpret or overpersonalize events, to hold unusual ideas that influence behavior (e.g., telepathy, clairvoyance), and to have difficulty being understood by others. They may drift toward esoteric, fringe groups that support their magical thinking and aberrant beliefs. These activities can provide structure for some persons with STPD, but they can also contribute to a further loosening and deterioration if there is an encouragement of psychotic-like or dissociative experiences.

Persons with STPD are most likely to seek treatment for anxiety or mood disorders rather than seek treatment for the symptoms specific to STPD. Individuals with STPD may experience transient psychotic episodes especially in response to stress. However, these episodes are relatively brief (i.e., lasting a few minutes to a few hours) and are typically of insufficient duration to warrant an Axis I psychotic diagnosis. Only a small proportion of persons with STPD develop schizophrenia, but many may eventually develop a major depression. The symptomatology of STPD does not appear to remit with age (Siever, 1992). The course appears to be relatively stable, with some proportion of schizotypal persons remaining marginally employed, withdrawn, and transient though much of their lives.

Although DSM-IV reports that STPD may occur in up to 3% of the population, most estimates using structured diagnostic interviews to assess STPD are lower and closer to 1% (see Table 6.2). STPD appears to be slightly more common in men. Little is known about the prevalence of this disorder in nonwestern cultures.

There is empirical support for a genetic association of STPD with schizophrenia (McGuffin & Thapar, 1992; Nigg & Goldsmith, 1994), which is consistent with the fact that the diagnostic criteria for STPD were obtained from studies of the biological relatives of persons with schizophrenia (Miller et al., 2001). A predominant model for the psychopathology of STPD is deficits or defects in the attention and selection processes that organize a person’s cognitive-perceptual evaluation of and relatedness to his or her environment (Siever & Davis, 1991). These deficits may lead to discomfort within social situations, misperceptions and suspicions, and to a coping strategy of social isolation. Correlates of central nervous system dysfunction seen in persons with schizoprenia have been observed in laboratory tests of persons with STPD, including performance on tests of visual and auditory attention (e.g., backward masking and sensory gating tests) and smooth pursuit eye movement that might be associated with dysregulation along dopaminergic pathways (Siever, 1992). As children, persons with STPD are likely to have been notably isolated. They may have appeared peculiar and odd to their peers, and may have been teased or ostracized. Achievement in school was likely to have been impaired, and they may have been heavily involved in esoteric fantasies and peculiar games—particularly those that do not involve peers (APA, 1994, 2000). Empirical support for the childhood development of STPD, however, is limited.

Antisocial Personality Disorder

Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) is characterized by a pattern of behavior that reflects an extreme disregard for and violation of the rights of others. The DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for ASPD include deceitfulness, impulsivity, irritabilityaggressiveness, acts of criminality, and irresponsibility (APA, 2000). Persons with ASPD often commit reckless acts that neglect to consider the safety of others, and they lack remorse for the harm they have inflicted. Additional features of ASPD not included within the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria include arrogance, superficial charm, exploitativeness, and a lack of empathy (Hare, 1991; Sutker & Allain, 2001). Persons with ASPD are unlikely to maintain steady employment. Some persons with ASPD can obtain professional and criminal success for periods of time, as long as their exploitations, violations, deceptions, and manipulations are not discovered. Their success, however, may at some point unravel, due in part to their impulsivity, negligence, and lack of foresight. A similar pattern may occur within their social and sexual relationships. They may at first appear to be quite successful socially, as they can be charming, fun, and engaging, but many of their relationships will eventually fail as a result of their lack of empathy, fidelity, and responsibility, as well as episodes of abuse, exploitation, and angry hostility.

ASPD is evident in childhood in the form of a conduct disorder (e.g., aggression toward persons and animals, destruction of property, deceitfulness or theft, and serious violations of laws and rules). Evidence of conduct disorder before the age of 15 is in fact required for the DSM-IV diagnosis of ASPD (APA, 2000). However, it is important to emphasize that not all children with conduct disorder will meet the criteria for ASPD as an adult. A continuation into adulthood is more likely to occur if multiple delinquent behaviors are evident before the age of 10 (Hinshaw, 1994).

It is estimated that the prevalence rate for ASPD is about 3% in men and about 1% in women (L. N. Robins et al., 1991). High rates of this personality disorder are seen in substance abuse treatment settings and in forensic settings. Up to 50% of males within prison settings meet the DSM-IV criteria for ASPD, but this could be due in part to a lack of adequate specificity of the diagnostic criteria within prison settings (Hare, 1991). Although ASPD is more common among those from lower socioeconomic classes and those in urban settings, the direction of the causality for this relationship is unclear. This correlation may reflect that persons with ASPD migrate to urban settings and become more socially or economically impoverished or that economic impoverishment contributes to the development of antisocial traits.

There is considerable support from twin, family, and adoption studies for a genetic contribution to the etiology of the criminal, delinquent tendencies of persons with ASPD (McGuffin & Thapar, 1992; Nigg & Goldsmith, 1994; Stoff et al., 1997; Sutker & Allain, 2001). The genetic disposition can be more evident in females with ASPD due in part to a greater social pressure on females against the development of aggressive, exploitative, and criminal behavior.

Abnormally low levels of anxiousness, constraint, and arousal have been implicated in the development of ASPD. Research has suggested that individuals with ASPD demonstrate a hyporeactive electrodermal response to stress that is associated with a commonly studied domain of normal personality functioning—neuroticism or negative affectivity (Patrick, 1994). These findings are consistent with developmental research concerned with the interaction of parenting and temperament (e.g., low anxiousness and low inhibition) on the development of a moral conscience (Kochanska, 1991). From this perspective, the pathology of psychopathy might not be a deficit that is qualitatively distinct from general personality functioning (Widiger & Lynam, 1998). “The observed absence of startle potentiation in psychopaths . . . may reflect a temperamental deficit in the capacity for negative affect” (Patrick, 1994, p. 425).

Activities that the average person would find stimulating might be found by psychopathic persons to be dull, impelling them perhaps to engage in risky, reckless, prohibited, and impulsive activities. Abnormally low levels of arousal would also minimize feelings of anxiety, guilt, or remorse and help resist aversive conditioning. The development of normal levels of guilt, conscience, and shame may require a degree of distress-proneness (neuroticism or negative affectivity) and attentional self-regulation (constraint). Normal levels of anxiousness promote the internalization of conscience (the introjection of the family’s moral values) by associating distress and anxiety with wrongdoing, and the temperament of selfregulation helps modulate impulses into a socially acceptable manner (Kochanska, 1991).

There are also substantial data to support the contribution of family, peer, and other environmental factors, although no single environmental factor appears to be specific to its development (Stoff et al., 1997; Sutker & Allain, 2001). Modeling of exploitative, abusive, and aggressive behavior by parental figures and peers; excessively harsh, lenient, or erratic discipline; and a tough, harsh environment in which feelings of empathy and warmth are discouraged (if not punished) and tough-mindedness, aggressiveness, and exploitation are encouraged (if not rewarded) have all been associated with the development of ASPD. For example, ASPD in some cases could be the result of an interaction of early experiences of physical or sexual abuse, exposure to aggressive parental models, and erratic discipline that develop a view of the world as a hostile environment, which is further affirmed over time through selective attention on cues for antagonism, encouragement and modeling of aggression by peers, and the immediate benefits that result from aggressive behavior (Dodge & Schwartz, 1997; Farrington, 1997).

Borderline Personality Disorder

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by a pattern of impulsivity and instability in affect, interpersonal relationships, and self-image. According to DSM-IV, at least five of nine criteria must be present for a BPD diagnosis (APA, 2000). Table 6.3 provides these diagnostic criteria for BPD. As can be seen from Table 6.3, those diagnosed with BPD frequently experience strong, intense negative emotions and are prone to suicidal threats, gestures, or attempts. They are unsure of their self-image as well as their own views of other people. They harbor intense abandonment fears and feelings of emptiness. Stressful situations may invoke transient paranoid ideation or dissociation. Associated features include a propensity for engaging in self-defeating behavior (e.g., making a bad decision that destroys a good relationship), high rates of mood or substance use disorders, and premature death from suicide. Approximately 3–10% will have committed suicide by the age of 30 (Gunderson, 2001).

It is estimated that approximately 2% of the general population meets diagnostic criteria for BPD. BPD is the most frequently diagnosed personality disorder in both inpatient and outpatient settings (Adams, Bernat, & Luscher, 2001; Gunderson, 2001). It is believed that more women than men meet the criteria for BPD, but this belief is based primarily on clinical studies. It is important to distinguish BPD symptoms, which are chronic and pervasive, from borderline behaviors that may be exhibited for short periods of time in adolescence. Studies that have followed over time children and adolescents who initially received a BPD diagnosis find that only a small percentage still have a BPD diagnosis years later. This finding raises the possibility that BPD may be overdiagnosed in children and adolescents.

There are studies to suggest a genetic disposition specific to BPD, but research has also suggested an association with mood and impulse disorders (McGuffin & Thapar, 1992; Nigg & Goldsmith, 1994). There is also empirical support for a childhood history of physical abuse, sexual abuse, or both, as well as parental conflict, loss, and neglect (Gunderson, 2001; Johnson et al., 1999; Silk, Lee, Hill, & Lohr, 1995; Zanarini, 2000). It appears that past traumatic events are important in many if not most cases of BPD, contributing to the development of malevolent perceptions of others (Ornduff, 2000) and a comorbidity with posttraumatic stress, mood, and dissociative disorders. BPD may involve the interaction of a genetic disposition for lack of mood and impulse control with an evolving series of intense and unstable relationships (Bartholomew, Kwong, & Hart, 2001; Paris, 2001). Linehan (1993) hypothesizes that persons with a borderline personality disorder failed to learn important and useful skills for regulating emotional arousal and tolerating emotional distress; they learned instead that drug abuse, promiscuity, and selfinjurious behavior produce temporary relief from stress.

There are numerous theories regarding the pathogenic mechanisms of BPD; most concern expectations of abandonment, separation, exploitative abuse, or any combination of these (Gunderson, 2001). Persons with BPD have usually had quite intense, disturbed, or abusive relationships with the significant persons of their lives, including their parents. They continue to expect and may even recreate unstable and intense relationships throughout their adult lives. Persons with BPD may require numerous hospitalizations due to their lack of affect and impulse control, psychotic-like and dissociative symptomatology, and risk of suicide (Stone, 2001). Minor problems quickly become crises as the intensity of affect and impulsivity contribute to disastrous life decisions. They are at a high risk for developing depressive, substance-related, bulimic, and posttraumatic stress disorders (Adams et al., 2001). The potential for suicide is increased with a comorbid mood and substance-related disorder.

Histrionic Personality Disorder

Histrionic personality disorder (HPD) is characterized by pervasive and excessive emotionality and attention seeking (Widiger & Bornstein, 2001). The DSM-IV criteria for HPD include actions and behaviors that serve to place one in the center of attention, behavior that is provocative or inappropriately intimate, fleeting and superficial emotional expression, and suggestibility (APA, 2000). Persons with HPD tend to experience difficulty both in romantic relationships and in friendships. They have trouble balancing their strong needs for attention and intimacy with the reality of the situation. It is often difficult for those with HPD to delay gratification, and they are prone to act impulsively. Persons with this disorder are said to have a pathologic need to be loved, desired, and involved with others on an intimate basis, and they use a variety of means to get this involvement (Horowitz, 1991). They use their physical appearance to draw attention to themselves, they are melodramatically emotional, and they are inappropriately seductive. They may even perceive a relationship as being more intimate than is really the case, in part because of their need for romantic fantasy.

As indicated in Table 6.2, about 2–3% of the general population is believed to meet criteria for an HPD diagnosis. HPD is more prevalent among women, but it is important to keep cultural, gender, and age norms in mind when judging whether a given behavioral feature is indicative of HPD. The diagnostic criteria for HPD resemble closely stereotypic femininity, and clinicians at times overdiagnose HPD in women (Widiger, 1998). Cultural groups also differ in their degrees of emotional expression. It is only when the degree of emotional expression is excessive (within a cultural group) and causes distress or impairment that it should be considered symptomatic of HPD. HPD is likely to be diagnosed in some cultural groups more than in others. For example, the disorder might be seen less frequently in Asian cultures, in which overt sexual seductiveness is less frequent (Johnson, 1993) and more frequently within Hispanic and Latin American cultures, in which more overt and uninhibited sexuality is evident (Padilla, 1995). It can be difficult to determine when or how adjustments to the diagnostic criteria should be made within these different cultural contexts because the DSM-IV criteria may also reflect biases or assumptions regarding seductiveness that are not shared within other societies (Alarcon, 1996; Rogler, 1996).

There has been little research on the etiology of HPD. There is some limited support for the heritability of histrionic personality traits, but there has not yet been a familial aggregation, twin, or adoption study of this disorder (Jang & Vernon, 2001; McGuffin & Thapar, 1992; Nigg & Goldsmith, 1994). There are data to suggest that HPD is a constellation of maladaptive variants of common personality traits within the broad domains of neuroticism and extraversion (Trull, 1992; Trull et al., 1998). For example, normal extraversion includes the dispositions to be outgoing, talkative, and affectionate; to be convivial, to have many friends, and to seek social contact; to be energetic, fast-paced, and vigorous; to be flashy, seek stimulation, and take risks; and to be high-spirited (Costa & McCrae, 1992). Traits of extraversion are for the most part desirable and adaptive, but persons who are at the most extreme variants of these traits are likely to be histrionic and experience a number of maladaptive consequences (Trull, 1992). To the extent that HPD does indeed include maladaptively extreme variants of the personality traits of extraversion, there would be support for its heritability (Jang et al., 1998; Nigg & Goldsmith, 1994).

A variety of parent-child relationships may contribute to the development of HPD (Bornstein, 1999). Histrionic needs may develop in part through an overly eroticized parent-child relationship. For example, a father might repeatedly indicate through a variety of verbal and nonverbal communications that his love and attention for a daughter are largely contingent upon her being attractive, desirable, and provocative to him. Her sense of self-worth and meaning might be dependent in large part on how he relates to her, and she might then value herself primarily in terms of how she is valued by men (Millon et al., 1996; Stone, 1993). Empirical support for this developmental model of HPD, however, is lacking.

Neurochemical models of the disorder have emphasized a hyperresponsiveness of the noradrenergic system. This dysregulation in catecholamine functioning may contribute to a pronounced emotional reactivity to signs of rejection (Klein, 1999). There may be a naturally occurring neurochemical mechanism for the regulation of mood in response to signs of social applause and rejection. This regulatory mechanism would be helpful sociobiologically in making a person appropriately responsive to cues of social interest, but excessive responsivity of the noradrenergic system might also result in oversensitivity to attention and rejection.

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is characterized by grandiosity, a need for admiration, and a lack of empathy for others (APA, 2000; Widiger & Bornstein, 2001). Persons with NPD tend to have an exaggerated sense of selfimportance and to believe that they are so unique that they can only be understood by similarly special people. These self-views lead to interpersonal behaviors that prove to be problematic—arrogance, exploitativeness, and a sense of entitlement. Despite the veneer of high self-confidence and self-esteem, those with NPD are quite vulnerable to real or perceived threats to their status. Therefore, it is not uncommon to seerage or counterattacks.As might be expected, NPD individuals tend to have serial friendships, which end when others discontinue their willingness to express admiration or envy. NPD individuals’ intolerance of criticism or perceived defeat may keep them from high levels of achievement.

According to estimates (see Table 6.2), NPD seems relatively rare in the general population (i.e., less than 1%). NPD is also among the least frequently diagnosed personality disorders within clinical settings (Widiger & Bornstein, 2001). This personality disorder does appear to be more prevalent among men, but systematic epidemiological studies have not been conducted. It is important not to mistake an idealism that is characteristic of adolescents and young adults (e.g., stating a strong belief that one will become a surgeon) with the traits and behaviors of NPD. It is only when such beliefs are excessive (i.e., extremely unrealistic) and cause significant distress or impairment that we see them as indicative of NPD.

Cross-cultural studies of narcissism and narcissistic personality disorder would be of interest. NPD is the only DSM-IV personality disorder that is not given official recognition with in the WHO’s (1992) international nomenclature. Some theorists have in fact suggested that NPD is distinctly cultural, arguing that pathological narcissism is the manifestation of a modern, Western society that has become overly self-centered and materialistic, coupled with a decreasing importance of familial (interpersonal) bonds (Cooper & Ronningstam, 1992).

There has not yet been a familial aggregation, twin, or adoption study of NPD (McGuffin & Thapar, 1992). The predominant models for the etiology of narcissism have been largely social learning or psychodynamic. One model proposes that narcissism develops through an excessive idealization by parental figures, which is then incorporated by the child into his or her self-image (Millon et al., 1996). Narcissism may also develop through unempathic, neglectful, inconsistent, or even devaluing parental figures who have failed to adequately mirror a child’s natural need for idealization (Cooper & Ronningstam, 1992). The child may find that the attention, interest, and perceived love of a parent are contingent largely on achievements or successes. They may fail to perceive the parents as valuing or loving them for their own sake but may instead recognize that the love and attention are largely conditional on successful accomplishments (Widiger & Bornstein, 2001).They might then develop the belief that their own feelings of self-worth are dependent upon a continued recognition of their achievements and successes by others. Conflicts and deficits with respect to self-esteem do appear to be central to the pathology of the disorder (Stone, 1993). Narcissistic persons continually seek and obtain signs and symbols of recognition to compensate for conscious or perhaps even unconscious feelings of inadequacy. Empirical support for the validity of hypotheses concerning narcissistic pathology are being provided by social-psychological (as well as clinical) research. Rhodewalt, Madrian, and Cheney (1998), for example, indicated how narcissism is more highly correlated with instability in selfesteem than with simply a consistently high self-confidence. Narcissism is perhaps a maladaptive process of regulating or protecting a fragile self-esteem in part through gaining the approval and admiration of others (Raskin, Novacek, & Hogan, 1991). Baumeister and his colleagues have been exploring the contribution of narcissistic conflicts to the occurrence of aggressive, violent behavior (Baumeister, Smart, & Boden, 1996; Bushman & Baumeister, 1998). They demonstrated empirically, for example, that neither low nor high self-esteem was predictive of reacting aggressively to threat. It was instead a combination of vulnerable self-esteem and injurious insult.

Avoidant Personality Disorder

Avoidant personality disorder (AVPD) is characterized by a pervasive pattern of timidity, inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, and social hypersensitivity (APA, 2000; Bernstein & Travaglini, 1999). Those with AVPD for the most part avoid situations (occupational or otherwise) that require significant interpersonal contact. Therefore, they are seen as shy or loners. This interpersonal stance seems driven by the belief that they are inept, unappealing, or inferior. AVPD individuals are afraid of being embarrassed or rejected by others. They only become involved with others in situations in which they feel certain they will be accepted or liked. AVPD individuals want close relationships, but their fears keep them from initiating and maintaining contacts. Associated features of AVPD include hypervigilance (especially in social situations), low self-esteem, and a proneness both to anxiety disorders and to mood disorders.

Occupational success may not be significantly impaired as long as there is little demand for public performance. Through a job or career, persons with AVPD may in fact find considerable gratification and esteem that they are unable to find within their relationships. The job can serve as a distraction from intense feelings of loneliness. Their avoidance of social situations impairs their ability to develop adequate social skills, and their impaired social skills then further handicap their efforts to develop relationships. However, they may eventually develop an intimate relationship to which they often cling dependently. Persons with AVPD are prone to mood and anxiety disorders—particularly depression and social phobia.

Timidity, shyness, social insecurity, and other features of AVPD are not uncommon problems, and AVPD is one of the more prevalent personality disorders within clinical settings (Mattia & Zimmerman, 2001). However, AVPD may be diagnosed in only 1% of the general population (see Table 6.2). It appears to occur equally among males and females, with some studies reporting more males and others reporting more females.

AVPD appears to be an extreme variant of the general personality traits of introversion and neuroticism (Trull, 1992; Trull et al., 1998), both of which have substantial heritability (Jang & Vernon, 2001; Plomin & Caspi, 1999). Most children and adolescents have many experiences of interpersonal embarrassment, rejection, or humiliation, but these experiences are particularly devastating to the person who is already lacking in self-confidence and is temperamentally anxious and introverted (Rothbart & Ahadi, 1994). Persons with AVPD will have been shy, timid, and anxious as children. Many will have been diagnosed with a social phobia. Adolescence will have been a particularly difficult developmental period, due to the importance at this time of attractiveness, dating, and popularity.

AVPD may involve elevated peripheral sympathetic activity and adrenocortical responsiveness, resulting in excessive autonomic arousal, fearfulness, and inhibition. Just as ASPD may involve deficits in the functioning of a behavioral inhibition system, AVPD may involve excessive functioning of this same system. The pathology of AVPD, however, may also be more psychological than neurochemical; the timidity, shyness, and insecurity may be a natural result of a cumulative history of denigrating, embarrassing, and devaluing experiences. UnderlyingAVPD may be excessive self-consciousness, feelings of inadequacy or inferiority, and irrational cognitive schemas that perpetuate introverted, avoidant behavior (Beck et al., 1990).

Dependent Personality Disorder

Dependent personality disorder (DPD) is characterized by a pervasive, excessive need to be cared for, leading to submissiveness, clinging behavior, and fears of separation (APA, 2000; Widiger & Bornstein, 2001). DPD individuals tend to give their lives over to others—they ask for advice and guidance about even the smallest of decisions, exude helplessness, and readily abdicate responsibility for most areas of their lives. They are so fearful that others may reject or leave them that they do not express disagreements and may even volunteer to do unpleasant, demeaning tasks in order to gain nurturance and approval. As might be expected, DPD individuals are prone to low self-esteem, self-doubt, and selfderogation, leading to mood and anxiety disorders. Their neediness and desperation often prevents them from carefully selecting a person who will in fact be protective and supportive. They often choose their partners indiscriminately and become quickly attached to persons who are unreliable, unempathic, and even exploitative or abusive. They might feel that either they deserve an inadequate partner or may even select an inadequate partner to try to work through or resolve their long-standing interpersonal conflicts and feelings of inadequacy (Stone, 1993).

DPD appears to be among the more prevalent of the personality disorders in clinical settings. However, the rate of DPD in the general population does not appear to be very high (see Table 6.2). Most studies that have been conducted report higher prevalence rates of DPD in women than in men (Corbitt & Widiger, 1995). The prevalence and diagnosis of dependent personality disorder may also vary across cultures (Foulks, 1996) because there are profound differences in the extent to which societies encourage and value dependencyrelated behaviors. Many Western societies do appear to place more emphasis and value upon expressions of autonomy and self-reliance and might then be prone to overdiagnose the disorder (Bornstein, 1992). In some cultures, such as the Japanese or Indian cultures, interpersonal connectedness and interdependency are more highly valued, and what is considered dependency within the American culture might not be considered pathological within another culture.

O’Neill and Kendler (1998) reported the results of a longitudinal study of 2,230 twins who had been administered a measure of interpersonal dependency. The results suggested a modest genetic influence and a large specific environmental contribution. DPD may represent an interaction of an anxious, fearful temperament with an insecure attachment to an inconsistent or unreliable parental figure (McGuffin & Thapar, 1992). Dependent persons may turn to a parental figure to provide a reassurance and sense of security that they are unable to generate for themselves. This empirically supported etiological model (Rothbart & Ahadi, 1994) is consistent with current object relations theory in which dependent personality traits are considered to be an internalization of the mental representation of the self as weak and ineffectual, contributing to a disposition to look to others to provide protection and support, to become preoccupied with fears of abandonment, and to develop feelings of helplessness and insecurity (Blatt, Cornell, & Eshkol, 1993; Bornstein, 1992). In an intriguing cross-generational laboratory study, Thompson and Zuroff (1998) demonstrated how dependent mothers tended to reward mediocre over excellent performances by their daughters.

A number of studies have documented a relationship between the dependent person’s weak and ineffectual self-image, excessive need to please others, and a variety of interpersonal problems (Bornstein, 1999). For example, Santor and Zuroff (1997) demonstrated how dependent persons were excessively concerned with maintaining interpersonal relatedness, adopting the responses of friends, and minimizing disagreement. Studies have also indicated that dependent personality traits provide a vulnerability to the development of clinically significant episodes of depression—particularly in response to interpersonal rejection or loss (Blatt & Zuroff, 1992). Methodological concerns have been raised with respect to this research (Coyne & Whiffen, 1995; Widiger, Verheul, & van den Brink, 1999), but there does appear to be a sufficient number of replicated, well-designed prospective studies to support the hypothesis that dependency does provide a vulnerability to episodesofdepression(C. J.Robins,Hayes,Block,Kramer,& Villena, 1995). For example, Hammen et al. (1995) obtained 6-month and 12-month follow-up assessments of 129 high school senior women. They conducted multiple regression analyses to predict depression on the basis of dependency cognitions, prior interpersonal stress, and the interaction between them, controlling for initial levels of depression. All of the young women experienced stressful life events during this period of their lives, including moving away from home, separation from an important relationship, and loss of a romantic partner, but most of them did not become depressed. “Itwasthe women with cognitions about relationships representing concerns about rejection or untrustworthiness of others who were especially challenged by normative changes” (Hammen et al., 1995, p. 441).

Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder

Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) is characterized by a preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism, and control (APA, 2000; McCann, 1999). OCPD individuals tend to be rigid, stubborn, and perfectionistic to the point of impairment (e.g., tasks never get completed). Their preoccupation with rules, details, and morality cause them trouble both at work and outside of work. They are seen as inflexible and miserly and may be described by others as control freaks and workaholics. Other features of this personality disorder include hoarding, indecisiveness, reluctance to delegate tasks, being devoid of affection, ruminative, and prone to outbursts of anger. OCPD individuals often have comorbid anxiety disorders or mood disorders.

Many persons with OCPD obtain good to excellent success within a job or career. They can be excellent workers to the point of excess, sacrificing their social and leisure activities, marriage, and family for their job. Relationships with a spouse and children are likely to be strained due to their tendency to be detached and uninvolved but also authoritarian and domineering. A spouse may complain of a lack of affection, tenderness, and warmth. Relationships with colleagues at work may be equally strained by the excessive perfectionism, domination, indecision, worrying, and anger. Jobs that require flexibility, openness, creativity, or diplomacy may be particularly difficult (McCann, 1999). Persons with OCPD may be prone to various anxiety and physical disorders that are secondary to their worrying, indecision, and stress. Those with concomitant traits of angry hostility may be prone to cardiovascular disorders. Mood disorders may not develop until the person recognizes the sacrifices that have been made by their devotion to work and productivity, which may at times not occur until middle age. However, most experience early employment or career difficulties and even failures that may result in depression.

OCPD is characteristic of about 2% of the general population (see Table 6.2). It is believed that rates of OCPD in men are about twice those found in women. Clinicians must be careful not to overdiagnose OCPD. A number of individuals are conscientious, devoted to their work, very organized, and have perfectionistic tendencies. However, it is only when these features are associated with significant distress or impairment that they can be considered indicators of OCPD.

A variety of studies have indicated heritability for the trait of obsessiveness (Nigg & Goldsmith, 1994). OCPD may also relate to the general personality trait of constraint or conscientiousness (Trull, 1992; Trull et al., 1998) and the childhood temperament of attentional self-regulation, both of which have demonstrated substantial heritability (Plomin & Caspi, 1990). As children, some persons with OCPD may have appeared to be relatively well-behaved, responsible, and conscientious. However, they may have also been overly serious, rigid, and constrained (Rothbart & Ahadi, 1994).

Early psychoanalytic theories regarding OCPD concerned issues of unconscious guilt or shame. A variety of underlying conflicts have subsequently been proposed, including a need to maintain an illusion of infallibility to defend against feelings of insecurity, an identification with authoritarian parents, or an excessive, rigid control of feelings and impulses (McCann, 1999; Oldham & Frosch, 1991). Any or all of the aforementioned conflicts may in fact be important for a particular person with OCPD. OCPD involves an extreme variant of traits that are highly valued within most cultures (i.e., conscientiousness). Some persons may exaggerate cultural expectations as a result of excessive demands or pressures by parental figures. However, there have been few systematic studies on the developmental history or etiology of OCPD.

Future Directions in Personality Disorder Research

Personality disorders were placed on a separate axis in DSM-III in recognition of their unique importance to clinical practice (Frances, 1980; Spitzer, Williams, & Skodol, 1980). The placement on a separate axis may have also in turn contributed to an increased interest in the study of personality disorders by clinicians and researchers. Prior to DSM-III, only ASPD received much systematic empirical research. Since DSM-III was published, BPD (Gunderson, 2001) and STPD (Siever, 1992) have received a considerable amount of attention by researchers. Researchers have also been turning their attention to the dependent and narcissistic personality disorders (Bornstein, 1992, 1999; Bushman & Baumeister, 1998). Regrettably, very little attention has been given to the others, outside of their inclusion within broad, nonspecific studies in which all of the personality disorders are considered without much attention to hypotheses that are specific to individual personality disorders (e.g., Johnson et al., 1999; Modestin et al., 1998; Norden et al., 1995).

In this last section, we would like to highlight what we view to be important future directions in personality disorder research. We emphasize in particular research concerning the childhood, developmental precursors to adult personality disorder and their biological mechanisms. We also suggest that a better understanding of the DSM-IV personality disorders will be achieved when their conceptualization is integrated within more general models of personality functioning. A considerable amount of research has been devoted to the study of general personality functioning, and the science of personality disorders may progress to the extent that it incorporates this knowledge.

Childhood Development of Maladaptive Personality Traits

One of the more remarkable gaps in knowledge is the childhood antecedents for personality disorders (Widiger & Clark, 2000). Included in DSM-III (APA, 1980) were four childhood antecedents of the personality disorders: identity disorder as an antecedent of BPD, avoidant disorder as an antecedent of AVPD, oppositional defiant disorder for passive-aggressive personality disorder, and conduct disorder for ASPD. Only the childhood antecedents for ASPD are still included within the diagnostic manual. Empirical support for the childhood antecedents of ASPD are so compelling that evidence of their presence is required for its diagnosis (APA, 2000), yet there are almost no data on the childhood antecedents for most of the other personality disorders.

Prospective longitudinal studies from childhood into adulthood are needed to document empirically how maladaptive personality traits develop, sustain, alter, or remit in their presentation across the life span (Caspi, 1998; Sher & Trull, 1996; Widiger & Sankis, 2000). For example, Trull, Useda, Conforti, and Doan (1997) and Lenzenweger, Loranger, Korfine, and Neff (1997) are conducting prospective longitudinal studies of DSM-IV personality disorder symptomatology in young adults who have not yet developed a clinically significant psychopathology but are presumably at risk for doing so. Trull et al. identified from a sample of 1,700 college students persons who presented with a sufficient number of borderline personality traits to consider them to represent premorbid cases. “These initial studies . . . mark an important step in identifying young adults with significant levels of borderline features who may go on to experience significant dysfunction in later years” (Trull et al., 1997, p. 308). Lenzenweger et al. likewise identified 708 college students from a sample 1,646 who provided sufficiently elevated scores on a measure of personality disorder symptomatology to consider them to be at risk for future mental disorders. “Clearly, the prospective study of these particular subjects, currently under way through the Longitudinal Study of Personality Disorders, will shed light on their long-term social and occupational functioning and their mental health” (Lenzenweger et al., 1997, p. 350).

Ideally, the personality dispositions studied in adulthood would have conceptually meaningful and empirically valid relationships to the behavior patterns and temperaments that are of interest in current developmental research. We referred to some of this research in our discussion of individual personality disorders (e.g., ASPD, AVPD, and DPD). For example, there has been substantial research on the contributions of sexual and psychological abuse to the etiology of BPD (Zanarini, 2000). Linehan (1993) has hypothesized that BPD is the result of a heritable temperament of emotional instability interacting with a severely invalidating (e.g., abusive) environment. However, the broad BPD diagnostic category may not capture well the specific traits that are especially vulnerable or responsive to abusive experiences. Progress in the understanding of the development of BPD might be obtained by an integration of BPD research with existing developmental studies on the interaction between parenting, temperament, and attachment (Bartholomew et al., 2001).

Research has indicated that much of the phenomenology of BPD can be understood as extreme variants of a general domain of personality functioning described as neuroticism or negative affectivity (Trull, 1992; Trull et al., 1998). Neuroticism is a domain of personality functioning along which all persons vary, including persons diagnosed with a personality disorder (Widiger & Costa, 1994), and much of the BPD symptomatologycanbeunderstoodasfacetsofneuroticism— specifically, angry hostility, vulnerability, impulsivity, anxiousness, depression, and impulsivity (Clarkin, Hull, Cantor, & Sanderson, 1993). Persons who are the very highest levels of angry hostility, vulnerability, impulsivity, anxiousness, and depression would be diagnosed with BPD. Although they are generally critical of this conceptualization of BPD, Morey and Zanarini (2000) did report obtaining better temporal stability over a 4-year period for neuroticism in comparison to the symptomatology of BPD. They suggested that BPD is perhaps “a disorder that waxes and wanes in severity over time, whereas neuroticism reflects a putatively stable trait configuration” (Morey & Zanarini, 2000, p. 737). “From this perspective, [neuroticism] could indicate a temperamental vulnerability to a disorder that is then triggered by developmental events (such as childhood neglect or abuse), resulting in functional levels that may be quite variable in response to situational elements even while the underlying traits remain relatively stable” (Morey & Zanarini, 2000, p. 737).

Biological Mechanisms of Maladaptive Personality Traits

We have left the decade of the brain to perhaps enter a decade of the brain disease (Hyman, 1998). The emphasis being given to neurophysiological models of psychopathology can be to the detriment of adequate attention to cognitive, interpersonal, and other psychosocial models of etiology and pathology (Gunderson, 2001; Miller, 1996; Widiger & Sankis, 2000). Nevertheless, there is also much that is neurophysiological in psychopathology and the progress that has been made in understanding biogenetic and neurophysiological etiologies and pathologies has been remarkable (Kandel, 1998). Regrettably, there has been comparably little progress in understanding the neurophysiology of most of the personality disorders.

Biogenetic and heritability research has been confined largely to ASPD, BPD, and STPD, with very little research specific to the narcissistic, obsessive-compulsive and other personality disorders (McGuffin & Thapar, 1992; Nigg & Goldsmith, 1992). On the other hand, there has been a considerable amount of biogenetic and heritability research on general personality functioning (Plomin & Caspi, 1999). Progress in understanding the biogenetics of the DSM-IV personality disorders might be obtained through a consideration of the biogenetic research of general personality functioning—as we suggested previously in our discussion of some of the individual personality disorders (e.g., AVPD, DPD, and HPD).

An important area of future research is the clarification of the physiological substrates of maladaptive personality traits (Cloninger, 1998; Depue & Lenzenweger, 2001). For example, clinical studies have suggested that low serotonergic (5-hydroxytryptamine or 5HT) activity might be related to angry, hostile, and aggressive behavior. This research has included personality disordered populations (e.g., antisocial and borderline) but “one of the most remarkable aspects of this literature is the general consistency of these findings across different study samples and using various assessments of 5HT function” (Coccaro, 1998, p. 2). In other words, the 5HT findings have not been specific to any particular mental disorder; rather, they are associated instead with more fundamental dimensions of impulsivity and aggression that cut across diagnostic categories.

The anatomy and physiology of humans is quite similar to that of nonhuman animals, and research on the neurobiology of animal behavior can contribute to an understanding of the neurophysiology of human personality functioning. For example, the personality domain of extraversion (positive emotionality) is quite analogous to the search, foraging, and approach system studied in various animal species, at times more globally referred to as a behavioral facilitation system (BFS). Depue (1996) and his colleagues are exploring the neurobiology of the personality domains of positive affectivity (extraversion), negative affectivity (neuroticism), and constraint (conscientiousness) through pharmacological challenge studies.

“One of the more exciting directions for genetic research on personality involves the use of molecular genetic techniques to identify some of the specific genes responsible for genetic influence on personality” (Plomin & Caspi, 1999, p. 261). This research may ultimately lead to an understanding of the causal pathways from cells to social systems that will elucidate how genes affect the development of personality disorders (Hyman, 1998). Support for hypotheses concerning domains of personality functioning that are hypothesized to underlie the DSM-IV personality disorders have been obtained (e.g., Osher, Hamer, & Benjamin, 2000). For example, individuals with the long-repeat DRD4 allele are thought to be dopamine deficient and to seek novelty to increase dopamine release (Cloninger, 1998). However, failures to replicate these findings have also occurred (e.g., Hamer, Greenberg, Sabol, & Murphy, 1999; Herbst, Zonderman, McCrae, & Costa, 2000). One possible reason for replication failures is that the effect sizes for broad personality dispositions provided by single genes is quite small, but other methodological concerns need to be addressed as well (Ordway, 2000; Hamer et al., 1999; Plomin & Caspi, 1999).

Integration With General Models of Personality Functioning

It is apparent from our discussion of developmental and biogenetic research that we feel that progress in the understanding of the DSM-IV personality disorders will be obtained by an integration of the APA (2000) personality disorders with our current understanding of general personality functioning (Trull, 2000; Widiger & Costa, 1994). Much of what we know about normal personality functioning should provide a strong empirical, scientific basis for what could be known about abnormal personality functioning.

A variety of studies and methodologies have raised compelling concerns regarding the validity of the DSM-IV categorical model of personality disorder, and the existing research suggests that the maladaptive personality traits that constitute the DSM-IV personality disorders might be better understood as maladaptive variants of common personality traits (Clark et al., 1997; Livesley, 1998;Trull, 2000;Widiger, 1993). Alternative dimensional models for the personality disorders have been proposed, including the 15-factor model of Clark (1993), the interpersonal circumplex (Wiggins & Pincus, 1989), the seven-factor model of Cloninger (1998), the 18-factor model of Livesley (1998), and the five-factor model (Widiger & Costa, 1994).

The five-factor model (FFM) of personality was derived originally from studies of the English language to identify the domains of personality functioning most important in describing the personality traits of oneself and other persons. This lexical research has emphasized five broad domains of personality, identified as extraversion (surgency or positive affectivity), agreeableness, conscientiousness (or constraint), neuroticism (negative affectivity), and openness (intellect or unconventionality; John & Srivastava, 1999). Each of these five domains can be further differentiated into underlying facets or components. Costa and McCrae (1992) have proposed six facets within each domain. For example, they suggest that the domain of agreeableness (vs. antagonism) can be usefully differentiated into more specific facets of trust (vs. mistrust, skepticism), straightforwardness (vs. deception, manipulation), altruism (vs. egocentrism, exploitation), compliance (vs. oppositionalism, aggression), modesty (vs. arrogance), and tendermindedness (vs. toughmindedness, callousness). Table 6.4 provides an abbreviated description of the 30 facets of the FFM.

Empirical support for the construct validity of the FFM is extensive both at the domain and at the facet levels, including convergent and discriminant validation across self, peer, and spouse ratings, temporal stability, cross-cultural replication, and heritability (John & Srivastava, 1999; McCrae & Costa, 1999). The FFM has been used successfully as a model for integrating a broad and diverse array of personality research in such fields as industrial and organizational psychology and behavioral medicine. There does appear to be sufficient empirical support for the FFM to consider it for use as a possible dimensional model of personality disorder (Widiger & Costa, 1994).

Widiger, Trull, Clarkin, Sanderson, and Costa (1994) indicated how each of the DSM-III-R personality disorders could be understood in terms of the 30 facets of the FFM identified by Costa and McCrae (1992). These descriptions were updated for DSM-IV byTrull and Widiger (1997), and they informed some of our earlier discussions of individual personality disorders. For example, the normal domain of conscientiousness concerns a person’s degree of organization, persistence, order, and achievement orientation (Costa & McCrae, 1992). Conscientious persons tend to be organized, reliable, hard-working, self-disciplined, businesslike, and punctual. Persons who are overly conscientious will be excessively devoted to work, perfectionistic, and preoccupied with organization, rules, and details, resembling quite closely OCPD. AVPD is likewise readily understood as being simply maladaptively extreme variants of self-consciousness, anxiousness, and vulnerability facets of neuroticism, coupled with facets of introversion (Trull, 1992).

Wiggins and Pincus (1989) were the first to provide published data concerned with the relationship of the FFM to the APA (1980, 1987) personality disorder symptomatology. Since that original effort, more than 50 additional published studies have indicated a close relationship between the FFM and personality disorder symptomatology (Widiger & Costa, 2002). These studies, using a variety of measures and populations, have supported the hypothesis that each of the DSM-IV personality disorders could be readily understood as maladaptive variants of the personality traits included within the FFM (e.g., Ball, Tennen, Poling, Kranlem, & Rousanville, 1997; O’Connor & Dyce, 1998; Trull, 1992; Trull, Widiger, & Burr, 2001). The future of FFM personality disorder research will include a reproduction of the theoretical, nomological network surrounding the DSM-IV personality disorders, indicating how the etiology, pathology, and treatment of personality disorders can be best understood when the personality disorders are conceptualized as maladaptive variants of common personality traits.

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Widiger, T. A., & Costa, P. T. (1994). Personality and personality disorders. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103, 78–91.
Widiger, T. A., & Costa, P. T. (in press). Five factor model personality disorder research. In P. T. Costa & T. A. Widiger (Eds.), Personality disorders and the five factor model of personality (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
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DeMystifying Mitosis: Unveiling the Secrets of Cell Division

Echoes of dissent: understanding the palmer raids and their enduring legacy, engaging students with dream girl: a powerful tool for fostering gender equality and inclusivity, teaching students about morphology, teaching students about pyongyang the capital of north korea, teaching students about the poynting vector formula, teaching students about the thai language, unveiling the narrative tapestry: a guide to teaching the new testament, teaching students about the intendant system, teaching students about horntoads.

Fascinating Research Topics about BPD

Romantic Relationship Between Antisocial Personality Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder
Suicidal Ideation and Skill Use During In-Patient Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder
Sexual Abuse and Borderline Personality Disorder
Pregnant With Borderline Personality Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy
Substance Abuse and Borderline Personality Disorder
Psychological Disorders and Borderline Personality Disorder
Treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder
Alternative Treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder
Antisocial Personality Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder, Alcohol Abuse, and Compulsive Self Harm Behaviors
Abusive Parents and Borderline Personality Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder: Situation of a Person With BPD
Distinguishing Bipolar and BPD Disorders
Mental Condition: Borderline Personality Disorder
Therapy Behaviors and Borderline Personality Disorder
Abnormal Child Psych and Borderline Personality Disorder

BPD Essay Titles

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Treatment and Borderline Personality Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder and Dependent Personality Disorder
The Symptoms and Effects of Borderline Personality Disorder
Emotional, Physical and Sexual Links to Borderline Personality Disorder
Fatal Attraction and BPD
Self-Injury Issues and Borderline Personality Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder: Difference Women’s and Men’s BPD
The Emotional Regulation Dysfunction and Its Effects on Borderline Personality Disorder Patients
Borderline Personality Disorder: Affective Instability
The Diagnostic Criteria for the Borderline Personality Disorder in the United States
Major Depressive Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder
Social Perspectives and Borderline Personality Disorder
Bipolar Mood Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder
The Disrupted Self-Identity and the Enhancement of Self in the Illness Experiences of Individuals With the Bipolar Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder and Result Therapy
Women and Borderline Personality Disorder
Gender Differences and BPD

Research Questions About Borderline Personality Disorder

What Is Borderline Personality Disorder?
What Is the Relationship Between Substance Abuse Relapses and Personality Disorders?
Where Is the Knowledge Gap in Borderline Personality Disorder?
Are There Better Treatment For Borderline Personality Disorder?
Is Shame Dysregulation the Core Problem in Borderline Personality Disorder, or Just a Facet of It?
How Does Schema Therapy Work on Borderline Personality Disorder?
Can Borderline Personality Disorder Be Associated With Lack of Sleep?
Does Childhood Trauma Predispose the Person to Develop Borderline Personality Disorder?
Which Treatments Have Proven Effective in the Treatment of Chronic Emptiness in Borderline Personality Disorder?
Do Patients With Borderline PD Also Attract Diagnoses of Depression and Schizophrenia With Self-Report Rating Scales?
Can Family-Related Stress Trigger Bipolar Disorder and Hinder Recovery?
Does the Label or Diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder Lead to Better Clinical Care for These Patients?
What Can Help Clinicians Identify Features of Borderline Personality Disorder in Young People?
Which Psychosocial Therapy Is Most Effective for People With Borderline Personality Disorder?
Do Families and Carers of People With Borderline Personality Disorder Have Specific Care Needs?
What Is the Experience of People With Borderline Personality Disorder of Care in Different Settings?
Who Should Be Assessed for Borderline Personality Disorder?
What Is the Prognosis for Patients With Borderline Personality Disorder?
Is There Medication for Borderline Personality Disorder? If So, Is It Effective?

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Writing help, paraphrasing tool, personality disorder - free essay examples and topic ideas.

Personality disorders, characterized by enduring maladaptive patterns of behavior, cognition, and inner experience, can significantly impair an individual’s capacity to function socially and personally. Essays could explore the myriad of personality disorders such as Borderline, Narcissistic, and Antisocial Personality Disorders, elucidating their distinctive features, etiological factors, and the consequent challenges they pose to individuals and their loved ones. They might also delve into the diagnostic frameworks, treatment modalities, and the stigma often associated with personality disorders. Discussions might extend to the broader societal and ethical implications, such as the impact on criminal behavior and the justice system, as well as ongoing research aimed at better understanding and treating personality disorders. We have collected a large number of free essay examples about Personality Disorder you can find in Papersowl database. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

Bipolar Mood Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder

Abstract There is a thin line between Bipolar Mood Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder. It is common to be misdiagnosed as bipolar mood disorder with borderline personality disorder due to some features being similar. Some of the same symptoms run hand in hand with each other. Even some psychiatrist can still misdiagnose one with the wrong disorder if they do not take into consideration using the DSM, factoring in all symptoms current and past, and looking at the symptoms not […]

About Posttraumatic Stress Personality Disorder Better Known as PTSD

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, better known as PTSD, is a disorder in which a person continues to experience fear and related symptoms after a traumatic event (Comer, 2016). Symptoms of PTSD may begin shortly after (days/weeks) or even long after (months/years) the traumatic event, and can last for months or even years. Some symptoms of PTSD are troubling memories, trauma-linked dreams, dissociative experiences, and physical reactions when reminded of the event. PTSD can affect any person of any age and can […]

About Social Phobia

For most children, social experiences are positive and pleasant, ones which help in building interactive skills and easing individuation and self-sufficiency. However, for other children social experiences might be troublesome, upsetting and even painful. Indeed, some children struggle in social interactions to the point that they cannot get involved in even basic activities such as going to school, sleeping at friend's house, or talking to strangers. These children are thought to have social phobia. Social anxiety disorder, formerly known as […]

Research Related to Paranoid Personality Disorders

Key Issues Mr. Boyle, a fifty-five-year-old high school principal, presented himself for assessment. Mr. Boyle is encountering difficulties in getting along with his coworkers, the school board, and his family, which, as a result, has placed his job and marriage at risk. Mr. Boyle firmly believes that the school board and certain disgruntled parents are conspiring to have him removed from his position as principal. He also reports that his coworkers are jealous and complain about his overly structured manner, […]

Understanding Anxiety and Personality Disorders and their Impact on our Life

Anxiety is a term that people use to describe the feeling of being eager to want something to happen, or when some are worried about the uncertainty of the outcome of something. Anxiety is usually a negative feeling. Regarding mental health and in regards to a personality disorder, anxiety can be defined as having a constant worry which may hinder one from carrying out normal activities. Anxiety disorders manifest in different ways such as panic attacks, general anxiety, antisocial personality […]

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Is the Human Nature Good or Evil?

The inquiry of whether not human beings are naturally born good or evil has been contested in the phycological community for centuries. A Separate Peace by John Knowles reveals the narrative of Gene Forrester and his time at the Devon School in New England during World War II. The novel is told in the perspective of Gene as an adult, looking back at the most impactful years of his life. During the novel, a sense of unreliability becomes evident. Gene […]

A Personality Disorder

As children we often wondered why people were so different from each other. We wondered why they reacted differently to situations and sometimes we would even get mad when they didn’t enjoy something we liked. At a young age we were made aware that each individual has their own personality. We were made aware that not every individual will be just like us. Personality refers to the different tastes of individuals whether it is in thinking, feeling or behaving. As […]

Body Image and Self Esteem

The impact of low self-esteem and negative body image is adversely affecting adolescents as they try to fit in in a never-ending society of expectations. The definition of body image according to Merriam-Webster's dictionary is "a subjective picture of one's own physical appearance established both by self-observation and by noting the reactions of others. Body image is not just decided by ourselves, it is also decided by others. This occurs when people have physical reactions and facial expressions. The definition […]

Violence Caused by Media or not

Many people argue that media violence is the gateway to violent behavior in individuals. But upon closer examination, this argument falls apart. In fact, several studies definitively demonstrate how violence is caused by other factors, with media violence playing just a small part in the outcome. So, while it is commonly believed that consumption of violent media leads to more aggressive behavior in the population, personality, psychological disorders, upbringing, economics, and substance abuse are shown to contribute more towards the […]

Navigating the Intricacies of Sociopathic Tendencies

In the realm of popular culture, the term "sociopath" has become almost colloquial, often evoking images of cold, calculated villains or charming manipulators. However, the academic understanding of sociopathic tendencies delves far deeper, beyond mere Hollywood portrayals, offering insights into a complex psychological profile that is both fascinating and, at times, unsettling. Sociopathy, more formally recognized in psychiatric circles as Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD), is marked by persistent patterns of disregard for the rights of others, often manifesting in violation […]

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and Fear Responses

The authors' research on post-traumatic stress disorder builds upon previous psychophysiological studies and their effects on human behavior. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disorder caused by traumatic life events. Approximately 8% of Americans have experienced some form of PTSD in their lives. PTSD heightens fear responses, hinders restrictions on conditioned fear, and inhibits the body's ability to distinguish between safety and fear signaling cues. Since this disorder varies case by case, not all individuals can be successfully treated […]

Will’s Aggressive Personality in ‘Good Will Hunting’ Movie

In Good Will Hunting , the main character Will is math genius with a high IQ that can solve any math problems in impressive time. Even though he is a math genius, he has had difficulties in his childhood and adulthood. Will worked as a janitor during his probation time at a MIT which gave him the opportunity to learn and solve math problems outside of the classroom. Will was continuously rebellious and was given a last strike of being […]

496 Disorders Essay Topics

🏆 best essay topics on disorders, 👍 good disorders research topics & essay examples, 🔥 hot disorders ideas to write about, 📌 easy disorders essay topics, 💡 simple disorders essay ideas, ✍️ disorders essay topics for college, 🎓 most interesting disorders research titles.

Potential of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy in the Treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder The concept of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) has the potential to support the needs of different PTSD patients.
Concept of Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) The fear is usually connected with marked anxiety and deterioration in several areas, including work, social life, and family life.
Eating Disorders in Adult Population The major part of this paper is the design of the group proposal about group therapy and its application in the eating disorder in adult population.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Cognitive Therapy Psychological therapies have been used to offer assistant to psychological patient. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a disorder that is associated with traumatic experience.
The General Concept of Bipolar Disorder It is a serious mental problem because it leads to one or more abnormal episodes known as mania if critical, and hypo mania if milder.
Essay on Eating Disorders in Adolescents Young people have issues with their body weight and image, thus often suffer from eating disorders because they have a preference for certain food types.
Co-Occurrence of ADHD and Bipolar Disorder The relationship between Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and bipolar disorder has received a lot of attention.
Childhood Disorders: Autism Spectrum Disorders In case of autism spectrum disorders the presence of other childhood disorders in a patient often complicates the traditional diagnostic procedure.
The Relation Between Attention Deficit Disorder and Colitis Patients suffering from co-occurring conditions find it hard to receive timely, quality, and safe medical support.
Effect of Social-cultural Factors on Eating Disorders Research however shows that women get the disease at a lower age compared to men, with most of them beginning at adolescence.
Assessing Juveniles for Psychopathy or Conduct Disorder The importance of diagnosing psychopathy and other conduct disorders in order to perform effective crime policy is unquestioned.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Its Features Posttraumatic stress disorder is simply a disorder that can develop in human being following a life-threatening event that has occurred in his or her life.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Diagnosis People who work in risky environments have a high propensity of developing PTSD than their counterparts in safer working environments.
Human Sexual Behavior: Sexual Disorders Sexual disorders refer to any physical or mental conditions that causes disturbance to the normal functioning of the body, thus preventing one from desiring or enjoying sex.
What Is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder? Posttraumatic stress disorder or PTSD is a psychological and emotional response to a traumatic event. There is a higher probability to develop PTSD if a person went through a disaster.
Learning Disabilities: Speech and Language Disorders The paper answers the questions about learning disabilities: speech disorder, communication disorder, language disorder and their effects on language development and education.
Psychological Treatment: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder The universal condition of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that emanates from the exposure to traumatic events continues to pose health concerns to the victims.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Concept Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD), a type of anxiety disorders, is a mental health condition that occurs as a result of terrifying, distressing or stressful events.
Psychological Therapy of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a distressing condition that leads to brain disturbance due to exposure to dreadful situations.
Anxiety Disorders Psychology: Managing Panic Attack People should avoid emotional conflicts and past difficulties in order to reduce chances of developing panic attack. They are sometimes associated with heart attacks.
Mental Disorders and Vulnerability to Homicidal Death The current article supports the fact that mental disorders are risk factors for accidental death and suicide, but there is limited data to suggest their association with homicide.
Psychology Issues: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is one of the main challenges that people deal with after a traumatizing event. PTSD should be treated as soon as any of the symptoms start to be recognized.
Emotional and Behavioral Disorders – Psychology Behavioral disorders, which are also termed as conduct disorders, form part of the mostly experienced psychopathology forms, especially within children along with young adults.
Experience of Disorder Symptoms – Nursing Research The study was approved by an Institutional Review Board. The framework is loosely connected with nursing theory. People with certain disorder completed questionnaires on the symptoms they experience.
Anxiety Disorders’ Impacts and Treatments This paper explores articles on anxiety disorders, their impacts on genders, the reasons for their persistence, effective ways of treatment, and the quality of life of patients.
“Social Anxiety Disorder” by Schneier Franklin The article, “Social Anxiety Disorder,” by Schneier Franklin, was published in 2006, in the Journal of Medicine. The writer outlines what he considers the main causes of social anxiety disorder.
Oppositional Defiant Disorder Analysis Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is a condition that involves persistent phases of anger, refusal to comply with adults, arguing, and spitefulness.
Myasthenia Gravis Disorder: The Role of Families and Communities in the Management of the Disorder Myasthenia Gravis is a neurodegenerative disorder that weakens the skeletal muscles. The disorder causes emotional stress on the family members because it is difficult to detect in early stages.
Veterans’ Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: How a Game Can Help? This research paper will analyze how veterans suffering from PTSD stand to benefit from the game Human versus Zombies by using the skills they learned in war.
Bipolar Disorder’ Symptoms and Treatments in Psychiatry The bipolar disorder is an austere, cerebral illness. This paper discusses the signs and symptoms, treatments, as well as management objectives of the bipolar disorder.
Eating Disorders in Adolescents: Causes and Treatment People should have regular checkups for any disorders, especially when they start noticing body changes anytime they eat a certain type of food.
Autism Spectrum Disorders: Control and Prevention This paper aims at determining whether television watching by children below the age of two years can lead to the development of autism.
Literature Review on Autism Spectrum Disorder This research paper reviews the literature ? on autism. It highlights the critical issues related to it: diagnosis ?, socialization, and family difficulties.
Bipolar Disorder, Its Symptoms, Causes, Therapy This paper aims at reviewing and summarizing the information on symptoms of bipolar disorder, its possible causes, and the ways to improve the mental state of patients.
Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders The last several decades could be characterized by the increased importance of the problem of drug abuse and addictive behaviors.
“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder” by Bisson et al. Posttraumatic stress disorder is a specific condition of a patient, which was provoked by a one-time or recurring strong external traumatic impact on the individual’s psyche.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: Case Analysis 27-year-old man who has been experiencing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for two years after his wife disappeared.
Mental Disorders in Infancy, Childhood, Adolescence This paper is going to provide an overview of some of the most commonly encountered mental disorders diagnosed in infants, children, and adolescents.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in the Fearless Film In the Fearless movie, Max has been suffering from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder that has affected his everyday life, personality, perceptions, and behaviors.
Substance Abuse Disorder Causes, Syptoms, Types Substance abuse – illicit, prescriptive, or licit drugs – has been linked to multiple chronic behavioral and psychotic disorders.
Schizotypal Personality Disorder, Symptoms and Cure Schizotypal Personality Disorder is a disorder that most people are unaware of. This disorder affects individuals’ thought patterns and it causes delusional images and discomfort.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Children: Studies Analysis This paper analyzes five scholarly articles on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children. The authors studied the effects and treatment of the disorder.
Mental Disorders and Social Networks Correlation Social media is currently a vital component of enhancing communication amongst friends and families through the sharing of personal content.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Treatment Centers The Nation Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is a center for information on PTSD. The center’s key mandate is to do research, educate, and treat those affected by trauma.
Anxiety Disorders Theory and Research This paper is focused of the exploration concerning alternative methods of treating anxiety disorders such as self-help. Besides, it discusses sources of disorders in children and adolescents.
Inpatients’ Eating Disorders and Countermeasures This paper explores the efficacy of meal supervision, patient and nurse education as the tools for improving the efficacy of nutrition, and enhancing patient outcomes.
Charles Manson’s Antisocial Personality Disorder According to SLT, serial killers learn from the environment. Other factors such as poor childhood upbringing also contribute to serial killing.
Social Anxiety Disorder, Risk Factors and Symptoms This paper focuses on the peculiarities of social anxiety disorder that prevents people from living normal lives as they cannot communicate with others.
Borderline Personality Disorder Concept: Theory and Practice A person suffering from the Borderline Personality Disorder has a problem in self-identity the person feels that he does not understand himself and other people can easily manipulate him.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Group Therapy This paper studies a case involving a 13-year-old girl, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and requires psychological interventions to avert her undesirable behaviors.
Manitoba Mothers and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Singal et al. focuse on a rather important problem of maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy resulted in fetal alcohol spectrum disorder in children.
Dissociative Disorders, Their Types and Diagnostics Dissociative disorders deal with a person experiencing problems with memory, the identity of self and others, perception, and awareness.
Anxiety Disorders in the United States Anxiety is a simple and very common reaction to stress and inconveniences. Its commonness is what makes it especially dangerous.
Depressive Disorders, Their Types and Causes Many people confuse depressive disorders with blue mood. Depressive disorders are not conditions that one can wish away.
The Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder PTSD can be defined as a mental disorder that develops as a result of the exposure to a particular situation or information that may endanger a person’s life.
Cardiovascular & Hematologic Disorders in Children The paper discusses the management of a pediatric patient who has a painful swelling of the hands and feet and concerns physical exam findings and diagnostic results.
Heart Failure and Cardiovascular Disorders: Learning Plan Heart failure problems, associated with cardiovascular disorders, appear to be the issues of general concern and discussion among clinicians and patients on a global scale.
Bipolar or Manic-Depressive Disorder Bipolar disorder is a brain illness that causes sudden changes in an individual’s mood, levels of activity, energy, as well as the ability to perform mundane tasks.
Bipolar Disorder: Diagnosis and Treatment Bipolar disorder (formerly manic depression) is a serious and common psychiatric disorder affecting a person’s mood.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Students This paper reports the observation of a classroom with children with ADHD. It provides a brief overview of ADHD and summarizes articles regarding ADHD in children.
Transgender Disorders and Homosexuality There is a lot of evidence of both the genetic mechanisms’ and surroundings’ influence on people’s sexual preferences. However, the environment is more responsible for such choice.
The Body Dysmorphic Disorder Concept Body Dysmorphic Disorder or BDD is a disorder that involves patient’s distorted perception of his or her appearance.
Postpartum Patient’s Major Depressive Disorder The first key element in the description of the patient’s worsening depression and the development of mental illnesses is her having had a fifth child.
Combat-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder The paper outlines the temporal dynamics and elements of attentional bias for threat cues in combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Diagnostics The paper studies the case of the patient exhibited the essential key features of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. It presents the justification for DSM 5 Diagnosis.
Borderline Personality Disorder: Symptoms and Treatment People with BPD often have intestinal issues, depression, drinking issues and drug addiction. The first signs of BPD often appear when the patient is young.
Opioid Use Disorder and Central Nervous System Complications of CNS can range from chronic pain to multiple sclerosis, which are conditions that hurt individuals’ health and the ability to function during daily activities.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder at School This work is observations of Jacob, a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which was made at Cornell Junior Public School.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: Systemic Psychotherapy People with PTSD experience heightened anxiety caused by memories of traumatic events. Such attacks often result when the patient encounters specific triggers or irritants.
Anxiety, Psycho-Physiological Disorders, Phobias Different models express phobias. It has been established that phobias may develop due to conditioning. Once fear has been acquired, there are high chances that it will stay.
Conduct Disorder in Adolescence Conduct disorder refers to a collection of antisocial behaviors exhibited by adolescents that infringe on the rights of other people and that defy societal norms.
Special Education Plan For Students With a Learning Disorder The student exhibits a learning disorder, which involves social withdrawal and adverse educational performance.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Substance Use The posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can often be complicated by substance use disorders (SUDs) or the manifestations of both conditions can be simultaneous.
Bipolar Disorder in Medical and Societal Views The objective of this research paper is to analyze the symptoms, causes, and ways of diagnosing bipolar disorder from different points of view.
Normal Dieting and Eating Disorders Healthy dieting behaviors are essential for people’s health and well-being. This paper discusses the difference between normal dieting and eating disorders.
Psychiatry: Adjustment Disorder Case This work considers the situation of Mrs. H., who appears to have developed an adjustment disorder as a result of negative events, which followed her immigration to the US.
Cardiology: Care Plan Disorder The care plan is based on the notion that no single intervention approach can enhance treatment and patient adherence. Successful outcomes will largely depend on implementing unique attributes.
Social Anxiety Disorder and Its Symptoms Social anxiety disorder is a condition that occurs as a result of excessive fear of social involvement. It is also known as social phobia.
Fatigue-Related Disorder, Symptoms and Therapy This paper includes diagnosing a fatigue-related disorder, analyzes its signs and symptoms, and proposes necessary methods of therapies.
Parkinson’s Disease and Primary Headache Disorder Katzenschlager concluded, PD is recognized as a neurodegenerative disorder of a relentlessly progressive nature. Magis et al. focus on the treatments of primary headache disorder.
Disorders: Severity, Symptoms and Treatment Several disorders constitute the subject of abnormal psychology. They include obsessive-compulsive disorder, Bipolar disorder, and Major depressive disorder among others.
Bipolar Disorder: Symptoms, Factors and Treatment Bipolar disorder is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by changing moods and energy levels that affect the ability of the patients’ memory to function normally.
Brain Tumors and Psychological Disorders Some tumors of the brain have been categorized as malignant. Such kind of a tumor is characterized by an abnormal growth of cells that lack evident boundaries.
Serial Killer John Wayne Gacy: Mental Disorder Analyzed The mental status of John Wayne Gacy cannot be considered normal, especially taking into account the events that happened to him in his childhood.
Mental Disorders and Used Treatment Paradigms This paper outlines neuroscientific, diathesis-stress, and psychoanalytic paradigms that are used in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders.
Women’s Health: Sexual Desire and Arousal Disorders This paper discusses the topic of sexual dysfunctions in women from its etiology, clinical findings, patient history, exams, lab studies, diagnoses, and care plans.
Child Psychiatry: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a childhood disruptive behavioral disorder that manifests in “inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity” and can persist into adulthood.
Bipolar Disorder I, II, and Cyclothymic Disorder In this paper, the researcher seeks to analyze types, causes, signs and symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of the bipolar disorder.
Supporting Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders Depending on the situation, the representatives of the general public interact with autists when being at home, in the educational establishment, workplace, or other locations.
Teaching Students With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a psychiatric disorder characterized by impulsive actions that are not related proportionally to the age of the affected person.
Personality Disorders and Interaction Ability The current paper discusses the limitations of the current studies on the phenomenon of narcissistic personality disorder.
Speech Disorders in English Language Learners The development and acquisition of language skills and speech by children have always been of particular interest for linguists.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Definition and Diagnosis Posttraumatic stress disorder is a condition, which potentially happens in individuals that had experienced an event that was threatening to their lives, for example, an accident.
Autism Spectrum Disorder in Twins: Genetics Study Autism spectrum disorder is a behavioral condition caused by genetic and environmental factors. Twin studies have been used to explain the hereditary nature of this condition.
Social Anxiety Disorder: The Fear of Making Mistakes People with social anxiety disorder experience high levels of nervousness and self-consciousness that arise from the fear of being judged and criticized.
Borderline Personality Disorder and Childhood Sexual Abuse This paper examines different research studies to demonstrate a causal or high-risk factor in child victims of sexual abuse to develop Borderline Personality Disorder in adulthood.
Bipolar Disorder and Its Three Types The bipolar disorder condition is usually characterized by mood swings. The patient will experience periods of both mania and depression.
Risk Incidence Solution: Substance Use Disorder Substance use disorder is a dangerous condition that affects nurses, as they may be overconfident, are exposed to increased workload, and have easy access to CSs.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Major Depressive Disorder A major depressive disorder is one of the most widespread mental diseases. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is one of the available options to treat MDD.
Bipolar Disorder or Manic Depression Bipolar disorder is a mental illness characterized by unusual mood changes that shift from manic to depressive extremes. In the medical field, it`s called manic depression.
Psychotherapeutic Group with Depressive Disorder This manual is developed for a closed psychoeducational group of young adults aged 20-25 years old with the symptoms of the depressive disorder.
General Features and Etiology of ADHD Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a mental health disorder that is expressed by extensive impulsivity and deficient attentiveness.
Postpartum Bipolar Disorder and Depression The results of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire screening of a postpartum patient suggest a bipolar disorder caused by hormonal issues and a major depressive episode.
Evidence-Based Intervention for Substance Use Disorder Substance use disorders (SUDs) are a significant problem, and the number of children and adolescents with SUDs is high.
Bipolar Disorder, Its Types, Symptoms, Treatments Psychologists believe that bipolar disorder is a critical condition that can encourage patients to engage in risky behaviors. Sometimes the affected patients might become suicidal.
Compulsive Buying Disorder Compulsive buying disorder is often an issue of women trying to cope with depression, but this psychological state is not the only reason for the development of the disorder.
Attention Deficit Disorder and Colitis This discussion focuses on two conditions that tend to co-occur in both adolescents and children. These illnesses include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and colitis.
People with Addiction and Substance Use Disorder Adult patients with opioid addiction need special care and regular monitoring by a professional healthcare provider.
Inclusive Education for Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder Autism spectrum disorder has become widely spread in the US today, resulting in developing the debates on the appropriateness of inclusive education for students with ASD.
Co-Occurring and Substance Use Disorders Mental disorders cause a highly dangerous state in the patient’s organism. Psychological disorders may impact people of any age or social group.
Patients with a Substance Use Disorder Treatment options for patients with addiction and SUD may vary, depending on personal needs and professional awareness.
Brain Disorders’ Effects on Human Health Organic disorders are conditions brought about by damage to brain tissues. A psychological disorder refers to a behavioral condition resulting from a disability.
Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Diagnostic Mood disorders are adjustment problems that come from stressors emanating from inside and which can be triggered by factors that cannot be controlled.
Substance-Related Disorders and Dual Diagnosis Recurring symptoms of mental illness after successful abstinence or reduction in use should be treated using tested and proven pharmacological and psychological interventions.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Individuals with Generalized Anxiety Disorder experience higher levels of anxiety every day. Cognitive-behavioral therapy was proven helpful in children and adolescents with GAD.
Developmental Disorder Overview: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder One of the developmental disorders often diagnosed in the middle childhood years is attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Identification The criteria for identifying students with the ADHD problem required identifying the essential patterns of attention exhibited by the patient.
Diagnosis and Treatment for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder I have been having trouble coping with the fact that my son Ryan was recently diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD).
Psychodynamic Approach: Creativity and Bipolar Disorder This report answers the questions to a case study concerning the psychodynamic approach to leadership that underlying irrational processes and dynamics that govern human behavior.
Circadian Rhythm Sleep-Wake Disorder Circadian Rhythm Sleep-Wake Disorder is a sleep disorder caused by a disrupted biological sleep-wake cycle or a mismatch among environmental demands and a person’s internal clock.
Psychiatric Personality Disorder in Adults This paper concentrates on the investigation of psychiatric personality disorder in adults by analyzing three different case studies.
Individuals With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Neurodevelopmental disorders are particularly different to treat in young patients since the latter’s nervous system has not developed yet.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Diagnosis and Tratment The posttraumatic stress disorder requires increased attention as the disease with a sufficiently large spectrum of associated problems and non-standard approaches to identification and intervention.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Life Quality The paper revolves around post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), its primary symptoms, consequences, and approaches to treatment aimed at the improvement of patients’ lives.
Addressing the Needs of Children With Anxiety Disorders The problem of anxiety among children is one of the outcomes that calls for an immediate change in the current legal and social frameworks since it affects vulnerable groups extensively.
Substance Use Disorder Workforce Loan Repayment Act: Bill Review The Act is a legislation that offers loan repayment to students who decide to become a professional treating SUD in areas most in need of their services.
The Concept of Histrionic Personality Disorder A histrionic personality disorder is a behavioral condition mainly affecting adolescents and young adults, it is caused by environmental and familial factors.
The Concept of Social Anxiety Disorder Social anxiety disorder, also referred to as social phobia, is a condition under which a person suffers from anxiety in different social contexts.
Premature Ejaculation Disorder: Treatment and Prevention The premature ejaculation disorder can be listed among the most common sexual disorders in adult men from across the world.
Hair-Pulling Disorder: Treatment and Prevention The hair-pulling disorder, also known as Trichotillomania (TTM), is a psychological condition associated with a compulsive removal of hair from the body.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Military Veterans Both in the military and civilian life, people encounter traumatic occurrences that challenge their perception of the world or themselves.
Opioid Use Disorder and Patient Education The practice issue is the lack of Naloxone education in patients diagnosed with opioid use disorder. Opioid treatment is frequently used to reduce pain.
Endocrine Disorders Conference: Scholarly Activity A conference for Miami healthcare practitioners was held to discuss the concerns associated with the problems regarding the financial aspect of treating endocrine disorders.
Opioid Use Disorder and Death: Evidence Appraisal Overdose is now one of the leading causes of mortality by injury in the United States. It results in ten thousand of preventable deaths every year.
Substance Use Disorders Among Registered Nurses Impaired nursing practice occurs when a nurse cannot provide adequate patient care due to being under the influence of chemical substances, such as drugs or alcohol.
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: Patient Case Study Patient is an 8-year-old female student who is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and assigned the Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy.
Hypersomnia Subtypes, Sleep and Relapse in Bipolar Disorder Kaplan et al.’s “Hypersomnia subtypes, sleep and relapse in bipolar disorder” identifies subtypes of the disease, which promotes the clarification of its definition.
Anxiety Disorder Definition: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment Anxiety disorder refers to a mental condition where someone experiences considerable sensations of anxiety and fear. Anxiety is a relatively permanent state of worry and nervousness.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Treatment Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a psychological issue that is typified by extreme apprehension about events and actions.
Addiction and Substance Use Disorder This paper has identified addiction and substance use disorder (SUD) as some of the health challenges many people in the global society face.
Bipolar Disorder: Risk Factors Analysis The research studies conducted on BAD can be categorized into two major subcategories regarding their approach to the issue
“Wellness, Emotion Regulation, and Relapse during Substance Use Disorder Treatment” Article Critique The critical review of the given article shows that the convenience sampling method was used to recruit the participants of the study
Sleep Disorders Analysis: Reasons and Effects In this paper, the topic of sleep health will be explored in great detail, with particular attention placed on the needs of the target population
Autism Spectrum Disorder Analysis Three children aged between 9 and 11 years are regarded as the ones having ASD, as stated by the licensed psychologist.
Family Check-Up for Adolescents With Substance Use Disorder The lack of proper parenting is one of the key premises that contribute to the initiation and substance use disorder (SUD) development in adolescents.
Anxiety Disorders and Cognitive Behavioral Techniques Cognitive-behavioral therapy restores the normal lifestyle and empowers an individual to control his behavior and cognition.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Children After Tsunami The paper studies children who have post-traumatic stress disorder due to the Indian Ocean tsunami that struck the shores on 26th December 2004.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms Analysis ADHD, usually starts presenting it self during childhood, and is thought to be a continual chronic condition, and there is no medical cure for this disorder.
Sleep Disorders: Medical Analysis This essays aim at providing a brief yet a comprehensive review on the types, causes, and common treatments of sleep disorders.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Children Post-traumatic stress disorder is a psychological disorder, which can be viewed as a response to such traumatic events as witnessing or committing homicide, surviving pain or extremely harsh physical conditions.
Anorexia Nervosa as a Brain Disorder Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by an uncontrollable desire to be thin, low weight, food restrictions, and a fear of gaining pounds.
“Medications for Opioid Use Disorders” the Article by Volkow, Nora D., and Carlos Blanco In this paper, the analysis of the article by Volkow and Blanco will be developed to clarify the primary clinical and pharmacological considerations of MOUD-based treatment.
Analyzing Psychological Disorders: Disorders Treatment and Research Psychological disorders are reported to be very severe and are usually debilitating resulting in an inability of an individual affected to perform the usual routine practices.
Contributing Factors of Anxiety in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex developmental condition that affects the way a person communicates and socializes.
Psychology. Memory Disorder in “Fifty First Dates” Film The paper discusses the memory disorder of Lucy from the movie “Fifty First Dates” with reference to the different kinds of memory classification.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Combat Veterans The aim of this essay is to review briefly yet, comprehensively the recent advances in assessment and treatment of PTSD.
Depression and Depressive Disorders Depression is one of the leading causes of disability in the world. Symptoms are feelings of sadness and guilt, changes in sleeping patterns changes in appetite, and other.
The Problem of Gender Identity Disorder The essay studies the problem of gender identity disorder of adolescents and possible ways of diagnosing and treatment.
Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia Panic disorder is a chronic psychiatric condition that can be treated. Agoraphobia is defined as a fear of having a panic attack in a place from which escape is difficult.
Mental Health Counseling in Bipolar Disorder Cognitive and interpersonal techniques help to resolve issues of life problems including demoralization, stigmatization, and lack of opportunity to learn from peer figures.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms and Causes
Combat Fatigue or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Soldiers
Personality Disorders and Anger
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Effectiveness for the Treatment of Generalised Anxiety Disorder
Mental Illness and Work: Bipolar Disorder
Plausible Causes for Male Eating Disorders
Autism and Other Neurological Disorders
Handling Adolescents With Oppositional Defiant Disorders
Bipolar Disorder: The Childhood and Adult Etiology
Medical Analysis of Bipolar Disorder
Definition, Causes, and Treatment of Bipolar Disorder
Dissociative Identity Disorder: Causes and Treatment
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Stimulants: Research Method
Mood Disorders: Depression Concepts Description
General Analysis of the Types of Bipolar Disorder
Childhood Mental Disorders: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Behavior Intervention in Autism Spectrum Disorders
Anxiety Disorders: Types, Symptoms and Treatment
Major Depression Disorder: Causes and Treatment
Treatment of Eating Disorders
Bipolar Disorder: Symptoms and Treatment
Bipolar and Mood Disorders
Attachments Disorder: Definition and Forms of Therapies
Communication in the Movie “Parent Trap”: Communication Disorders
Borderline Personality Disorder: Medical Review
Personality Disorders: Psychopaths and Sociopaths
Psychopathology: Mary White’s Factitious Disorder
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Diagnostic Categorization
Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Risk Factors
Bipolar Disorder: Term Definition
The Phenomenon of the ADHD Disorder
Diagnostic of Mental Disorders: Somatic Symptoms Disorder
Schizophrenia Disorder: Causes and Treatment
Eating Disorders: Why Do We Need to Control Our Nutrition?
Peculiarities of Bipolar Disorder
Definition of Personality Disorder Using the DSM Method
Intermittent Explosive Disorder: Diagnosis and Treatment
Insomnia and Sleep Disorders
Understanding Psychiatric Disorders: Mental Illness Treatment Strategies
Orthorexia Nervosa and Eating Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorders: Detailed Description, Diagnosis, and Treatment
Insomnia and Sleep Disorders Prevention and Management
Bipolar Disorder: Brief History of the Patient
Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Literature Review
Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms and Sleep Issues
Autism Spectrum Disorder in Children and Adolescents Below 18 Years
Mental Disorders in the US: Alzheimer’s Disease
Abnormal Psychology: Bipolar Disorder
Autism Spectrum Disorder: Antecedent Manipulation Project
Therapy for Depressive Disorder Symptom Relief
Post-Natal Depression as an Affective Disorder
Specific Features of Conduct Disorder
Impact of Generalized Anxiety Disorder on Single Parents
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Inductive and Deductive Reasoning
Binge Eating Disorder: Information for Patients
Statistics on Food Disorders in the US and Puerto Rico
Suicide and Major Depressive Disorder
Cystic Fibrosis Classification and Related Disorders
Lupus: One of the Serious Autoimmune Disorders
Coagulation Disorders in Pathologic Conditions
Research of Genetic Disorders Types
“The Globalization of Eating Disorders” by Susan Bordo
Genetic Disorders: Diagnosis, Screening, and Treatment
Drug Abuse Factors: Substance Use Disorder
Mental Disorders: General Information
The Link Between Epidurals and Autism Spectrum Disorder
Risk Factors of Bipolar Disorder
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Diagnosis Controversy
Cystic Fibrosis: Genetic Disorder
Anxiety, Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders
Disorder of Hemostasis Case
Mental and Behavioral Brain Disorders Comparison
The Juvenile Bipolar Disorders
Eating and Depressive Disorders and Their Treatment
Eating Disorders Like Bulimia Nervosa and Anorexia Nervosa
Schizophrenia Versus Schizoaffective Disorders
Diagnosis and Treatment of Trauma and Stressor-Related Disorders
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
Disorders of Hepatobiliary and Exocrine Pancreas Function
Major Depressive Disorder in Sex Workers
Bipolar Disorder: The Diagnosis and Treatment
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Approaches and Symptoms
Conduct Disorder in Children Analysis
Orthorexia as an Eating Disorder in the DSM
Personality Disorders. Diagnosis and Treatment
Pediatric Bipolar Disorder: Key Issues
Community Resources: Hospitals and Facilities That Deal With Mental Disorders
Postpartum Psychological Disorders
Treating and Preventing Adolescent Mental Health Disorders
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Progressive Neurocognitive Disorders and Adulthood
Mental Disorder and Criminogenic Behavior Association
Drugs for Treating Schizophrenia and Mood Disorders
Autism Spectrum Disorder: Behavior Analysis
Comparison of Brain Disorders: Mental Disorders vs Behavioral Disorders
Diagnostics: Cognitive Disorders
Differences Between Features of Bipolar Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Endocrine Disorder: Types and Causes
Separation Anxiety Disorder in Adults: Sidney’s Case
Pharmacotherapeutics and Behavioral Interventions for Psychosocial Disorders
Incidence of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder After Motor Vehicle Accidents
Eating Disorders in Adult Women
Influence of Culture and Gender on Personality Disorders Diagnosis
Mental State Deterioration in Bipolar Disorder Patients
Insomnia and Sleep Disorders Analysis
Eating Disorders: Diagnosis and Treatment
The Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Reproductive Diseases and Disorders
Evidence Based Therapy of Psychosocial Disorders
Chronic Situation: Renal Disorders and Dialysis
Teen Anorexia: Mental Illness and an Eating Disorder
Alcoholism: Analysis of Drinking-Related Disorders
Investigating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Brain Disease: Bipolar Disorder
Swan’s Case as an Example of an Eating Disorder
Gastrointestinal Tract and Disorders of Motility
Criticism of Medical Model of Psychological Disorders
Features of Schizophrenia as Neurodegenerative Disorder
The Link Between Bipolar Disorder and Creativity
Anorexia and Eating Disorders Treatments
Cyclothymic Disorder: Article Critical Review
Evaluation Plan of Research Project on Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder
Genetic Disorder Cystic Fibrosis
Professionalism and Professional Values in Nursing: Dealing With Patients With Psychosocial Disorders
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Triggers, Clinical Manifestations, and Therapy
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Endocrine Disorders: Diabetes Mellitus
Eating Disorders: Types and Causes
Psychoactive Substance Use Disorders in a Treatment Facility
Feeding & Eating: Binge-Eating and Pica Disorder
Genetic Linkage Disorders: An Overview
Musculoskeletal Disorders: Rheumatoid Arthritis
Bipolar Mental Disorder and Its Impact on an Individual
Managing Dengue Disorder in the Middle East
Nursing – Portions of the Gastrointestinal and Musculoskeletal Disorder
High-Risk Behaviors and Psychological Disorders Affecting Teenagers
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: Characteristics
Major Depressive Disorder: Characteristics, Approaches, and Treatment
Mental Disorders and Homelessness
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Pharmacological Treatment
Bipolar I: Manic-Depressive Disorder Medical Synopsis & Treatment
Psychodiagnostics: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Understanding and Treating Sleep Disorders
Justification on Treating Criminals With Mental Disorder Over Imprisonment
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Various Populations
Major Depressive Disorder: Pharmacological Treatment
Maternal Substance Use Disorder as Health Issue
Bipolar Disorder Phenomenon in Medicine
Psychopathy or Conduct Disorder: Assessing Juveniles
Neurotransmitters and Mental Disorders
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Military
Psychological Disorders and How They Promote Crime and Conduct Problems
Living with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Behavioral Addictions: Mental Disorders
Psychosis and Confabulation Disorder: Causes, Symptoms, and Management
The Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Case Study
Childhood Disorders: Autism Spectrum Disorders
Raising Awareness: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Mental Health Nursing Class: Anxiety-Related Disorders
Prevalence of Combat Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Among Veterans
Schizophrenia as the Most Challenging Psychological Disorder
Schizoaffective Disorder: Diagnosis and Treatment
Health Application for Anxiety Disorder
Obsessive-Compulsive and Eating Disorders in Children
Alcohol Use Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder: The Case Study
Hidden Dangers of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Medications
Urological Disorders in the Older Adult
A Counseling Theory for Child with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Diagnostics
Complex Regional Pain Disorder
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Integrative Summary
Treating Mental Disorders Among African Americans
Major Depressive Disorder in a Pakistani Immigrant
Media Effects on Eating Disorder Symptoms
Generalized Anxiety Disorder in a Hispanic Male
Childhood Mental Disorders: Symptoms and Treatment
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Vladek From “Maus” by Art Spiegelman
Bipolar Disorder Description, Causes, and Treatment
Food Allergies and Eating Disorders
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Prominent Aspects, Management, and Prevention
Nature and Effects of Co-Occurring Disorders
Panic Disorder: Causes, Signs, Symptoms, and Treatments
Mental and Heath Disorders in Medical Practice
High-Risk Behaviors and Psychological Disorders in Adolescents
Mental Illness and Madness and Approach to Mental Disorders
Characteristics of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Mental Disorders: Symptoms and Risk Factors
A Racial Trauma and Related Health Disorders
Health Professionals’ Perceptions of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
Impact of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder on Students
Autistic Disorder and Crime in the United States
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-5
Diagnosing Dissociative Identity Disorder
Eating Disorders: “Out of Control?” by Claes et al.
Eating Disorders: Finding the Right Treatment
Mental Disorders and Treatment
Assessing and Treating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders
AAC Systems for Individuals With Degenerative Disorders
Substance Use Disorder in the Context of Mental Health
Learning Disabilities and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Portrayal of Dissociative Personality Disorder in the Media
Case Study for Agnes: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Psychological Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Treatment
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Treatment
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Substance Addiction Treatment
Assessment of Borderline Personality Disorder Patient
Autism Spectrum Disorder and Immunization
Migration Crisis & Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Bipolar Disorder Symptoms and Treatment
Pyromania as a Psychological Disorder
Bipolar Disorder: Description, Episodes, and Types
Bipolar Disorder in the Criminal Justice System
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Personality Disorders According to American Psychiatric Association
Body Dysmorphic Disorders: Causes and Risk Factors
“””The King’s Speech”” Movie and Anxiety Disorder”
Pathological Gambling as Mental Disorder
Oppositional Defiant and Conduct Disorders
Uti Kulintjaku Project: Investigating Aboriginal Mental Disorders
Neurocognitive Disorders: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
Antisocial Personality Disorder Case Study
Therapeutic Treating of Patients With Depressive Disorder
Genetics of Personality Disorders
Researching of Disorders: DSM-5 Summaries
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder’s Treatment
Attention Deficit and Effective Treatment of Disorder
Eating Disorders and Social Interactions
Skin Disorders in Aging Populations
Mental Disorder as a Health Concept
The Scoff Questionnaire: Risk of Eating Disorders
The Black Dog Video: Modeling Mood Disorders
Substance Use Disorder and Outpatient Treatment
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Major Depressive Disorder
Down Syndrome: The Genetic Disorder
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in a Raped Girl
Major Depressive Disorder Among College Students
Substance Use With Co-Occurring Disorders
Mental Disorders: Preliminary Care Coordination Plan
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Fictional Case
Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder Behavior
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Critical Perspective
Depressive Disorder: Definition, Symptoms, Origin, and Management
“Substance Abuse Disorder in “”The Breaking Bad”” Film”
Case Study on Addiction and Mental Disorder
Lady Gaga’s Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder in an 18-Year-Old Woman
Substance Use Disorders in Prisoners
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder During and After World War I
Generalized Anxiety Disorder Epidemiology and Treatment
Anxiety Disorder as a Mental Health Challenge
Eating Disorders and Programs That Address Body Image Issues
Pediatric Occupational Therapy for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder: Description, Diagnostics, and Management
Mental Disorders: The Main Misconceptions
“Substance-Related Disorders in the “”New Jack City”” Movie”
Bipolar vs. Borderline Disorder in a Female Patient
Child and Adolescents Anxiety Disorder
Functional Communication Training via Telehealth for Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: Fifth Edition
Bipolar Disorder as a Prevalent Mental Health Issue
Blood Clotting Disorders as a Study Topic
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and Care Planning
Autism Spectrum Disorder Analysis
Autism Spectrum Disorder and Dialogue Framework
The Influence and Effects of Colour on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Children
Bipolar Disorder From Theoretical Perspective
Competence Assessment: Mental Disorders
The Mental Disorders Classification and Assessment
Schizophrenia Disorder Diagnosis
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders
Autism Spectrum Disorder Communication
“Antisocial Personality Disorder in “”The Lion King”””
Anxiety Disorders in Older Adults
Aspects of Body Dysmorphic Disorder
Neurophysiological Disorders in Children
Tourette Syndrome: Chronic Neuropsychiatric Disorder
Personality Disorders: Common Issues
Biochemical and Neuropsychological Models of Childhood Psychiatric Disorders
Depressive Disorder and Its Diagnostic Criteria
Workplace Violence Due to Substance Use Disorder
Hoarding Disorder and Theoretical Orientation
Abuse of Adults With Mental Disorders
Counseling Session With Client With Anxiety Disorder
Media Portrayal of People With Mental Disorders
Public Health Problems Related to Depressive Disorders
Racism, Ethnoviolence, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Social Control in Eating Disorders
Hypnotherapy in the Treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Pros and Cons of DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders)
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: The Case Study
Eating Disorders Among Athletes
Eating Disorders and Therapeutic Support
Behavioral Treatments for Substance Use Disorders
Diagnosing Disruptive Behavior Disorders
Eating Disorders and Its Effects on Society
Childhood Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders
Are Mental Disorders Biological or Environmental
Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Eating Disorders
Depressive and Anxiety Disorders in the Elderly Population
Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Mental Disorders
Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Disorders and Their Daily
Anxiety Disorders: Definition and Treatment
Anorexia Nervosa and Eating Disorders
Abnormal Psychology and Therapy: Mental Disorders
Attention Deficit Disorders and Treatment of Students in High School
Creativity and Mental Disorders: Subjective Dilemma
Alcohol-Related Disorders and Alcoholism
Abnormal Psychology and Therapy: Physical Illnesses and Disorders
Anxiety Disorders and the Holistic Nursing Approach to Treatment
Circadian Rhythms Disorders and Sleep Phase Syndrome
Childhood Trauma and the Personality Disorders
About Autism and Other Similar Disorders
Childhood Behaviors, Disorders, and Emotional Issues
Depression: Unipolar and Bipolar Disorders
Anxiety Disorders and Its Effects on Children and Adolescents
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Substance Use Disorders
Eating Disorders and Anorexia Nervosa
Depression, Schizophrenia and Anxiety Disorders
Children With Learning and Developmental Disorders
Are Eating Disorders Really About Food
Children With Psychological Disorders During the 19th Century
Child and Adolescent Bipolar and Other Mental Disorders: Awareness and Respect
Anxiety and Sleep Disorders in Children and Adolescents
Body Image and Eating Disorders Among Young
Anxiety Disorders and Valium Treatment
Depression and Eating Disorders Among Adolescents
Eating Disorders Among Young Adolescents and Early Adulthood
Eating Disorders and African American Women
American Sleep Disorders Association Examples
Anxiety Disorders and Its Effects on Children
Antisocial Behavior and Conduct Disorders in Children and Young People
Disorders and Diseases Affecting the Lymphatic System
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Good position paper topics include debating the effectiveness of the death penalty, the fairness of the taxation system in the United States and whether or not using animals for research is humane.
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As with any essay, the first step in writing a profile paper is to decide on a topic. A profile essay can be about a person, place or business, or even an event or activity. Profile topics should be interesting to research, observe and read...
personality disorder research: Topics by Science.gov
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... topic for research. The ... Whereas recent reports from national studies have presented extremely high rates for many personality disorders
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Causes of Psychological Disorders · What seems to be the role of genetics in leading to psychological disorders? · What is the role of upbringing and family
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"Reactive Attachment Disorder as a Precursor to Schizoid and Histrionic Personality
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Topics: Mental Health, Personality, Personality Disorder, Stress. Research Related to Paranoid Personality Disorders. Words: 1307 Pages: 4 1555. Key Issues Mr
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Psychological therapies have been used to offer assistant to psychological patient. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a disorder that is

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