Tag: Mental Health

The first in the series of personality disoders is Paranoid Personality Disorder (PPD). Although experiencing paranoia in a stressful situation is common, PPD refers to a much bigger idea; a permanent fear that someone or something is trying to cause you harm, and that you are in almost-constant danger.

A person with PPD will treat every experience, however neutral or friendly, as a personal attack and a sign of their “put-upon” status. They will feel like they always need to be on guard to defend themselves. Someone with PPD will struggle to trustanything, as they fear (or expect) that everything in their world could be revealed as a lie or trick at any moment. This uncertainty may drive someone with PPD towards anger and constant arguments with other people, who they assume are lying or hiding information. Alternately, the person may isolate themselves from the world and from others so they cannot be decieved.

To be diagnosed with PPD in the DSM-5, someone must meet 4 of these criteria;

The study of psychological differences and “abnormal” behaviour has received more public attention than many other branches of psychology, but this attention isn’t always beneficial. “Abnormal” behaviour is associated with sensationalist news headlines more than sensible conversation. As a result, people often know about psychological conditions through their portrayals in mass media, rather than from factual explanations.

Of the many psychological differences, the category of personality disorders is most frequently misunderstood. The individual personality disorders (PDs) are often mis-represented, while the idea of a “disordered personality” sparks criticism from anti-psychiatry groups and people diagnosed with PDs.

So what are PDs, and what do we mean by “personality” in this context?

Currently, personality disorders are defined as groups of traits, experiences and behaviours that are significantly different from the majority of people; that affect someone’s thinking, emotions and impulses; and are associated with personal distress and dysfunction. These general criteria needs to be met for any PD diagnosis.

So to be diagnosed with a PD, someone needs to have a collection of unusal behaviours and traits which affects a large portion of their everyday life. Those behaviours and traits must start before early adulthood. They need to cause negative consequences for the person, who should be upset by or annoyed at those behaviours.  The name “personality disorder” attempts to represent how far-reaching and impactful those behaviours and experiences are upon almost every aspect of the person’s understanding of themselves and their ability to relate to others.