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Paranoid Personality Disorder Research Paper

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All personality disorders have four main defining features which are, distorted thinking patterns, problematic emotional responses, over- or under-regulated impulse control, and interpersonal difficulties. Before being diagnosed, a person must display significant and enduring difficulties in at least two of these four areas. This means that anyone can display these at times, but it becomes a problem when it happens over a long period of time, and is disrupting to their everyday life. Personality disorders are organized into three different clusters which are Cluster A, the “odd, eccentric” cluster, Cluster B, the “dramatic, emotional, erratic” cluster, and Cluster C, the “anxious, fearful” cluster.
Cluster A, the “odd, eccentric” cluster, …show more content…
1990). Long story short, these people are very paranoid about their surroundings and the people in their lives. Individuals with paranoid personality disorder have symptoms that include assuming others are out to harm them, take advantage of them, or humiliate them in some way, preemptively attack others who they feel threatened by, tendency to hold grudges, display pathological jealousy, their perception of the environment includes reading malevolent intentions into genuinely harmless, innocuous comments or behaviors, and their emotional life tends to be dominated by distrust and hostility (DSM-5: The Ten Personality Disorders: Cluster A. n.d.). Because of all of these symptoms, others perceive them as being argumentative, stubborn, defensive, and unwilling to compromise (Beck, A. T., & Freeman, A. 1990). This mental disorder is usually hard to diagnose because they don’t show obvious signs and usually go into therapy for other reasons such as anxiety or substance …show more content…
This is probably the most well known, largely researched personality disorder. These individuals experience intense and unstable emotions and moods that can shift fairly quickly. They generally have a hard time calming down once they are upset, and because of that they frequently have angry outbursts and engage in impulsive behaviors (DSM-5: The Ten Personality Disorders: Cluster B. (n.d.)). Some symptoms of BPD include impairments in self functioning with their identity being poorly developed, or having instability with goals, and also having impairments in interpersonal functioning like having frequent mood changes, being very anxious, fears of rejection from significant others, and showing signs of depression (DSM-VI and DSM-V Criteria for the Personality Disorders, APA 2012). BPD is a relatively common disorder that results in considerable impairment in the individual’s life, but they aren’t necessarily always in turmoil. A few possible indications of BPD include a diverse assortment of problems and symptoms, which may shift from week to week, self-destructive behavior, and a lack of stable intimate relationships (Beck, A. T., & Freeman, A.

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