Personality disorder vs Normal weirdness
I get to continue on discussing mental health!
So personality disorders are also categorized within the DSM IV-the diagnostic bible of psychiatry. Illnesses such as schizophrenia, bi polar, anxiety and depression are Axis 1. Personality disorders are Axis 2.
They are categorized into 3 clusters:
Cluster A[mad] are schizoid, schizotypal, paranoid. People with this cluster are odd or eccentric.
Cluster B [bad] are borderline, antisocial, narcissistic, histrionic. People with this cluster have emotional instability, difficulty with interpersonal relationships.
Cluster C [sad] are obsessive/compulsive, dependent, and avoidant. People with this are pretty much what the disorder says.
we all have certain characteristics of each of these disorders at difference times in our lives.
What makes the difference between a personality disorder and just the usual weirdness that we all have, is the extent of the 'weirdness' and if it makes functioning difficult and if the default way of reacting to different situations tends to be always the same-people only have one or limited ways of acting and they use this way in every situation.
For instance, my general way of coping would be basically healthy, but at times-when stressed I might need a great deal of reassurance. Taken to the extreme, I could be classified as dependent, but given that I don't reach the extreme and generally function pretty well, I'm just normal.
The difference between someone who has schizoid personality disorder and someone who doesn't, but doesn't like being around people is degree. Someone with schizoid personality probably is noticeably 'stranger'. Like, when Richard and I met this guy, we both thought, 'hmmm, there's something odd', but not to the extent that we thought-'oh , he's listening to things that aren't there' more like, 'He sure doesn't say much and what he does say just gets right to the point. no hello, how are you? Just, hi, it's _____, I have your rent'. And 'he doesn't feel the need to say hello when walking by. And he doesn't have very much expression on his face. He doesn't seem interested at all in other people'
It is not shyness or someone not feeling like talking. More like the really weird kid at school that didn't seem to act like anyone else. not just the kid who sometimes acted weird, but we could all identify with.
Really, there are lots of different and unique people out there and most do not fall into personality disorder range. Some might, but if they are functioning fine, generally happy, and live their life-it doesn't matter and would never get classified because they would never see a psychiatrist for their problems.
It is when people become unhappy or their disorder starts to interfere with others (ie antisocial) that it becomes a disorder.
Sometimes I think within psychiatry, 'normal' becomes so important that we stop appreciating uniqueness-but then for in patient psychiatry-someone ends up there because functioning is impaired. Versus the regular happily strange assortment of human beings that we all are-mostly bumbling along life-generally content and happy, screwing up occasionally, but not terribly so.
Does this make sense?
Any more questions?
That'll be 5 cents please
So personality disorders are also categorized within the DSM IV-the diagnostic bible of psychiatry. Illnesses such as schizophrenia, bi polar, anxiety and depression are Axis 1. Personality disorders are Axis 2.
They are categorized into 3 clusters:
Cluster A[mad] are schizoid, schizotypal, paranoid. People with this cluster are odd or eccentric.
Cluster B [bad] are borderline, antisocial, narcissistic, histrionic. People with this cluster have emotional instability, difficulty with interpersonal relationships.
Cluster C [sad] are obsessive/compulsive, dependent, and avoidant. People with this are pretty much what the disorder says.
we all have certain characteristics of each of these disorders at difference times in our lives.
What makes the difference between a personality disorder and just the usual weirdness that we all have, is the extent of the 'weirdness' and if it makes functioning difficult and if the default way of reacting to different situations tends to be always the same-people only have one or limited ways of acting and they use this way in every situation.
For instance, my general way of coping would be basically healthy, but at times-when stressed I might need a great deal of reassurance. Taken to the extreme, I could be classified as dependent, but given that I don't reach the extreme and generally function pretty well, I'm just normal.
The difference between someone who has schizoid personality disorder and someone who doesn't, but doesn't like being around people is degree. Someone with schizoid personality probably is noticeably 'stranger'. Like, when Richard and I met this guy, we both thought, 'hmmm, there's something odd', but not to the extent that we thought-'oh , he's listening to things that aren't there' more like, 'He sure doesn't say much and what he does say just gets right to the point. no hello, how are you? Just, hi, it's _____, I have your rent'. And 'he doesn't feel the need to say hello when walking by. And he doesn't have very much expression on his face. He doesn't seem interested at all in other people'
It is not shyness or someone not feeling like talking. More like the really weird kid at school that didn't seem to act like anyone else. not just the kid who sometimes acted weird, but we could all identify with.
Really, there are lots of different and unique people out there and most do not fall into personality disorder range. Some might, but if they are functioning fine, generally happy, and live their life-it doesn't matter and would never get classified because they would never see a psychiatrist for their problems.
It is when people become unhappy or their disorder starts to interfere with others (ie antisocial) that it becomes a disorder.
Sometimes I think within psychiatry, 'normal' becomes so important that we stop appreciating uniqueness-but then for in patient psychiatry-someone ends up there because functioning is impaired. Versus the regular happily strange assortment of human beings that we all are-mostly bumbling along life-generally content and happy, screwing up occasionally, but not terribly so.
Does this make sense?
Any more questions?
That'll be 5 cents please
posted by lisaandrichard at 7:08 PM
3 Comments:
You should pay me for giving you an opening to talk more about mental health.
Thank you. That was helpful. But you did not discuss Cluster F.
Yes, I owe you 5cents!
I laughed out loud with the Cluster F.
Post a Comment
<< Home