Personality Disorders

Orange County Personality Disorder Treatment Center

Personality disorders can create significant complications for many people, including difficulty managing addictions or a higher overall risk of addictive behavior. Patients with personality disorders may struggle much harder to break out of an addictive cycle or have much more trouble managing symptoms. Learn more about cluster a b c personality disorders and how personality traits can be indicators of a mental disorder.

People who are struggling with a personality disorder or mental illness may want to consider treatment to help manage their symptoms. Trained mental health publicists can support those with these disorders as they learn to lead happier and healthier lives. Learn how personality disorders can affect personal relationships and lead to mental illness.

What is a Personality Disorder?

A personality disorder is a disorder that causes rigid thinking patterns, often including unhealthy patterns and habits that can have a substantial impact on the patient’s ability to engage in routine behaviors, including self-care. People with these disorders may have difficulty interacting with members of the general population, particularly when they do not follow the standards expected by the patient. Many people struggling with these disorders do not recognize their abnormal thinking because those thinking patterns feel normal.

Personality disorders can lead to several dangerous behaviors or patterns. Patients with these mental health conditions often struggle to engage normally with others around them. They may have trouble with general relationships or self-control, leading to various potentially dangerous challenges.

Personality Disorder Clusters

Personality disorders are often divided into clusters that define specific characteristics of those disorders. Each disorder falls into a group based on the specific criteria that define that cluster and the behaviors that often go along with it. Some patients may have symptoms that fall into more than one cluster or may have symptoms that fall into more than one type of these mental health disorder.

Cluster A personality disorders include “odd” thinking patterns and behaviors. Generally, they involve paranoia or an overall lack of emotional response to input that would usually generate a response.

Cluster A personality disorders may include:

Patients with Cluster A disorders may have little interest in relationships with others or may not interact “normally” with the world around them. They may experience a variety of odd perceptions, including discomfort in normal social interactions.

Cluster B personality disorders often include disorders that lead to dramatic or unpredictable thinking patterns and behaviors. Patients with Cluster B disorders may be very emotional and volatile but may not connect well with the emotions of others.

Patients with these disorders may have trouble maintaining healthy relationships. They also suffer from a heavy degree of impulsive behavior. Which can lead to an increase in reckless behavior, including a higher likelihood of trying drugs, over-consuming drugs or alcohol, binge drinking, and poor financial decisions.

Cluster B personality disorders may include:

Patients with Cluster B disorders often want a great deal of attention and may seek it out constantly, even to the detriment of other areas of their lives.

Cluster C personality disorders may impact as much as 3-9% of the general population. Cluster C disorders, like other types of mental health disorders, may occur more often in patients in a clinical setting.

These personality conditions generally cause a high level of anxious behaviors in patients. They may suffer from high anxiety levels or fearful thinking and may be more likely to engage in generally avoidant behavior. Cluster C disorders may also lead to an increased overall level of sensitivity, including rejection sensitivities.

Cluster C personality disorders may include:

Patients with Cluster C disorders may engage in very rigid or controlling behaviors to control their fears and improve that sense of control they may need for everyday living. Unfortunately, controlling those behaviors may only serve to mask symptoms temporarily.

Seeking Treatment

For any patient who believes they have symptoms of a personality disorder, seeking treatment can prove critical. Diagnosis for these disorders usually starts with a physical exam, which can help rule out physical causes for disordered thinking. Then, patients will typically go through a psychological evaluation, which can help the psychologist identify symptoms of disordered thinking and establish a diagnosis.

From there, treatment for a mental health condition can begin. These disorders are often lifelong conditions, meaning patients may need ongoing assistance with symptom management to live healthier lives and maintain healthier relationships.

Treatment for a personality disorder may include:

Therapy will give patients a chance to talk about the challenges they face and provide them with training for managing the symptoms of their disorder.
Treatment programs. Sometimes, when learning how to manage those initial symptoms, patients may benefit from residential treatment programs, where they will have the opportunity to keep their focus on treatment for the disorder and its symptoms.
Medications. In many cases, antipsychotic medications or anti-anxiety medications can help manage some of the immediate symptoms associated with personality disorders. However, no medications are specifically intended to treat personality disorders, which may make treatment a discovery process.

Having the proper support as you pursue treatment for a personality disorder can prove critical. Working with a qualified team of care providers, including a team that will help with social rehabilitation programs, can make it easier.

We Can Help

At First Light Recovery, we help address severe mental health issues that impact our clients’ overall quality of life in a way that can help them address social and emotional challenges in a caring, supportive environment. First Light Recovery works with patients to understand their disorder while also providing the support needed for recovery.

We aim to help people manage their mental health disorders and mend close relationships with supportive people in their lives. Our team of mental health professionals supports those struggling to find the right treatment approach for their needs.