Robert Zakar gives back to community
Traits Of Cluster C Personality Disorders
Medically reviewed by Michael MacIntyre, MD
Personality disorders (PDs) are inflexible and persisting patterns of thinking and behavior that deviate from cultural expectations and norms. Personality disorders can affect every aspect of a person's life, including self-image and relationships. Personality disorders are categorized into clusters in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR).
Cluster C personality disorders fall under the anxious and fearful categories and include avoidant personality disorder (AVPD), dependent personality disorder (DPD), and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) (not to be confused with obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD).
This article will also provide treatment and support options for people with cluster C personality disorders and for anyone living with suspected but undiagnosed personality disorder.
Johner Images / Getty Images
Cluster C Personality Disorders: What Makes Them DifferentThe difference between cluster C personality disorders and others comes down to the way their symptoms are categorized in the DSM-5-TR. Three diagnostic categories or types exist: A, B, and C. Below are the core differences between the types.
Cluster C vs. Cluster AWhile cluster C personalities are associated with fear and anxiety, cluster A personalities are considered "odd and eccentric" in the DSM-5-TR.
ADVERTISEMENT
Advertisement
Cluster A personality disorders include A disorders in the DSM-5-TR:
ExplainerThere is more research on shizotypal personality disorder than other cluster A personality disorders. This type of personality is in some cases seen as a less-severe schizophrenia but genetically related to it. Another view is that these symptoms reflect variations of typical or common personality traits.
Cluster C vs. Cluster BSymptoms of cluster B personality disorders are categorized and labeled as "dramatic" or "overly emotional." Cluster B personality disorders include:
Both clusters C and B are highly prevalent in clinical settings, such as one-on-one healthcare provider–patient relationships.
Related: Identifying and Coping With a Passive-Aggressive Narcissist
Avoidant Personality DisorderAVPD is explained as feelings of inadequacy that are so severe they lead to social avoidance and isolation. Someone with an AVPD may experience great distress trying to avoid further feelings of inadequacy and rejection.
SymptomsSymptoms of avoidant personality disorder include ongoing and consistent patterns of:
Rejection sensitivity or hypersensitivity to criticism
Feelings of inadequacy
Lack of agency (personal power)
Avoiding social situations and interactions, especially when they can be evaluated negatively
There isn't a lot of research to refer to in understanding the causes of avoidant personality disorder or to evaluate current treatment methods. Experts say genetic and environmental causes are at play, including exposure to adverse childhood experiences and as a response to complex trauma.
Related: What Is Avoidant Personality Disorder?
Dependent Personality DisorderDPD is when someone struggles to believe they can take care of themselves, and uses submissiveness to garner excessive caregiving work from others.
SymptomsSymptoms of dependent personality disorder include ongoing and consistent patterns of:
Excessive psychological dependence on other people
Fear of separation or separation anxiety
Passive, clinging, and submissive behavior
Research about the causes of dependent personality disorder is also limited. Causes may include a mix of factors, including cultural and family differences, early childhood traumatic stress, and biologic or genetic susceptibility to anxiety. Growing up with submissiveness, insecurity, and self-effacing behavior have been noted as potential associated risk factors.
Related: These 9 Online Couples Therapy Providers Can Help Restore Harmony and Balance
Obsessive-Compulsive Personality DisorderOCPD is associated with a preoccupation with control, rules, and perfectionism, rigid thinking, and a lack of flexibility with life changes both big and small.
TakeawayA notable difference between people with OCD and OCPD is that while people with OCD may experience unwanted thoughts, people with OCPD believe that their thoughts are correct.
SymptomsSymptoms of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder can include:
Rigid thinking and overall lack of flexibility
Stubborn behavior patterns leading to difficulty with change (i.E., difficulty throwing things away, asking for help, adjusting to new routines)
Preoccupation with order, rules, self-control, and self-discipline to where it interferes with flexibility, effectiveness, and openness
Excessive devotion to working
Related: What Are Adverse Childhood Experiences?
CausesThe causes of personality disorders like OCPD are always complex, but as with other personality disorders, experts note both genetic and environmental factors may be at play in OCPD.
TakeawayOCPD is said to occur more often in men than women, although it can impact anyone.
Treatment Options for Cluster C Personality DisordersPsychotherapy, or talk therapy, is often the first-line treatment for personality disorders. Some forms of talk therapy have proven effective in treating personality disorders, according to the American Psychiatric Association.
Talk therapy provides space for someone to recognize current ways of thinking and associated behavioral patterns and to establish and develop tools and coping strategies for handling big emotions and the everyday demands of life.
There are no medications available for treating personality disorders. However, medications may be recommended to help reduce a wide variety of symptoms, including feelings of anxiety and depression, or sleep difficulties (i.E., insomnia, nightmares, poor sleep).
TakeawayIt can be challenging for someone to know they have a personality disorder let alone for them to go about seeking an official diagnosis. For example, people with cluster B borderline personality disorder may not know they have it.
Related: Get the Care You Deserve With the Most Affordable Online Therapy
Support and Resources With an Undiagnosed Personality DisorderLiving with an undiagnosed personality disorder may mean experiencing many symptoms without knowing for sure what is causing them. It may also mean having other mental health diagnoses like an anxiety disorder and other personality disorders. Finding the right support and resources is important.
In addition to your psychotherapist, other forms of support can include working with social workers, counselors, and peer support groups, as well as community-based psychoeducation opportunities through local non-profits or mental health organizations.
Resources and support options include:
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) HelpLine: Call 800-950-NAMI (6264) or info@nami.Org.
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988.
Crisis Text Line: Text HELLO to 741741 for free and confidential support 24 hours a day anywhere in the United States.
Crisis Safety Plan: This resource form outlines a safety plan to support those experiencing self-harm and suicidal thoughts.
For more mental health resources, see our National Helpline Database.
Related: How Mental Health Apps Can Help BIPOC Access Care
SummaryThe traits of cluster C personality disorders stem from fear and anxiety. Key traits in avoidant personality disorder include feelings of inadequacy. Traits in dependent personality disorder center on a person's fear or anxiety around taking care of themselves. Traits in obsessive-compulsive personality disorder include perfectionism, rigid thinking, and lack of flexibility with change.
Causes include a combination of genetics and environmental factors. Treatment may involve talk therapy and medications to help ease symptoms.
Read the original article on Verywell Health.
View comments
DSM-5
The material on this site is for informational purposes only, and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment provided by a qualified health care provider.© 2005–2023 MedPage Today, LLC, a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved.Medpage Today is among the federally registered trademarks of MedPage Today, LLC and may not be used by third parties without explicit permission.
Pathological Jealousy In Borderline Personality Disorder
Jealousy is a normal human emotion defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "feeling or showing resentment towards a person one thinks of as a rival." Pathological jealousy, also known as delusional jealousy or morbid jealousy, is a psychiatric symptom in which the afflicted person is irrationally preoccupied with a partner's unfaithfulness based on unfounded evidence.
Pathological jealousy is considered by most theorists to be a delusional state, and the phenomenon is encountered not uncommonly in older adults with paraphrenia, a form of psychotic disorder that develops later in life and is marked by a strong delusional component with preservation of thought and personality. However, pathological jealousy can also be seen in obsessive-compulsive disorder and in certain personality disorders.
Borderline personality disorder is a severe illness for which the recommended treatment is psychotherapy.
Source: MissLunaRose12 / Wikimedia Commons
A borderline personality organization is an important predisposing condition in any form of delusional jealousy (Kingham & Gordon, 2018); nevertheless, the presence of pathological jealousy in individuals with borderline personality disorder has been an understudied subject. While many borderline patients exhibit extreme jealousy in the context of interpersonal relationships, jealousy in any form is not included in the DSM-5 criteria for the disorder.
Borderline personality disorder is characterized by intense fears of abandonment and rejection, an unstable sense of self, chaotic interpersonal relationships, and self-contradictory and self-defeating behavior. Since many patients with borderline personality disorder experience micropsychotic episodes, the disorder was historically considered to exist on the border between neurosis and psychosis. In the past, the term pseudoneurotic schizophrenia was used to describe the condition.
Given the great difficulty borderline patients have in developing trust in other persons—owing to their insecure attachment styles—jealousy often becomes a central theme in their romantic relationships. During periods of intense devaluation or micropsychosis, the jealous feelings may reach delusional proportions.
Jealousy in borderline personality can manifest in the patient frequently accusing the partner of cheating or hiding things; extreme suspiciousness of the partner's behavior, whereabouts, and communications; a constant need for reassurance of the partner's fidelity; and, in extreme cases, stalking and abusive or controlling behavior. At delusional levels, the patient becomes wholly convinced of the partner's unfaithfulness.
Pathological jealousy in borderline personality disorder almost inevitably results in further interpersonal conflict, since the partner comes to feel doubted, mistrusted, and unfairly accused. It is as if the patient says to the partner, "There is nothing you can do to show me that you really love me. I don't believe you." Paradoxically, this can eventually lead the partner to leave the borderline person—the outcome the patient so desperately seeks to avoid. In this sense, jealousy becomes yet another manifestation of a generally self-defeating relational pattern.
A psychodynamic explanation of pathological jealousy in borderline personality disorder is that the phenomenon represents a failure of early object relations to sufficiently provide the patient with a stable and consistent feeling of love. Instead, the early lives of these patients are usually marked by abuse, neglect, and traumatic abandonment. Indeed, a recent meta-analysis found that over 70 percent of borderline patients have a history of childhood trauma (Porter et al., 2020). Jealousy arises from the patient's inability to form trusting relationships with other persons as well as their characteristic use of splitting and projection as defenses against anxiety.
While medications can help manage some of the mood symptoms associated with borderline personality disorder, pathological jealousy generally responds poorly to pharmacotherapy. The treatment of choice is psychotherapy, which aims to address the underlying personality dynamics that give rise to jealous feelings and beliefs.
Borderline Personality Disorder Essential Reads
Find a therapist near you in the Psychology Today Therapy Directory.
Comments
Post a Comment