10 Signs of a Personality Disorder

In most cases, it is difficult to communicate with such people, they often like to argue over trifles and are very stubborn. A person with a personality disorder perceives reality in a distorted form, and these symptoms appear in any situation.

Such a diagnosis is not made before the age of 18. However, this requires that symptoms have been continuously present for the previous five years. There are several main types of personality disorders: antisocial, narcissistic, borderline, hysterical, obsessive-compulsive, paranoid, schizoid, schizotypal, dependent and avoidant. There are several other varieties, but they are beyond the scope of our discussion.

Here are 10 signs that make you suspect a personality disorder in a person:

1. He constantly has a mutual misunderstanding with others. He often hears in the words of others what they did not actually say. The narcissist feels that he is idealized, although he is far from ideal, and the person suffering from avoidant personality disorder in the words of others hears contempt and anger, which are not really there. Such a person hears in the words of others the content of his own internal dialogue (uncertainty or a sense of superiority).

2. He incorrectly perceives reality. Incorrectly interpreting other people’s words, such people often have wrong ideas about what kind of relationship they are with others and what status they occupy in society. For example, hysterical personalities quickly begin to consider themselves the best friends of the person they just met, not realizing that their new acquaintance does not think so.

3. They often ruin others’ fun. For example, they tell how the film will end, come up with unlikely reasons why someone’s plans may fail, spoil the mood of others by making scenes over trifles. They do all this to be in the spotlight, to prove to others that they are smart and right – a typical manifestation of obsessive-compulsive and narcissistic traits.

4. They don’t understand that “no” means no. The tendency to violate the personal boundaries of others is a typical symptom. Those suffering from these disorders do not recognize the right of others to set limits and easily violate any boundaries they do not like. People with antisocial and borderline personality disorders violate other people’s boundaries for other reasons – the former enjoy it, while the latter often do not even realize that they are violating something.

5. They try to make themselves look like a victim. To avoid responsibility, people with personality disorders tend to portray themselves as victims, for example, talking about their difficult childhood and long-term psychological trauma. But it is one thing for a patient with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to suffer from bad memories, and quite another when a person tries to manipulate others or avoid responsibility by portraying himself as a victim and talking about a difficult past. Paranoid, dependent or antisocial personalities are especially prone to this.

6. They have an imbalance in personal relationships. Some disorders (borderline, hysteroid, and addiction) are characterized by too close and emotional relationships, while others (with a narcissistic, avoidant, schizoid, schizotypal, obsessive-compulsive or antisocial disorder), on the contrary, emotional intimacy is almost inaccessible. In any case, relationships are built unbalanced – either too close, or cold and distant.

7. It is very difficult for them to change themselves. Growth and development are almost not given to such people. They can change, but very slowly. It is usually not possible to completely get rid of the disorder, with the exception of borderline disorder: studies show that it responds well to certain types of psychotherapy.

8. They shift the blame to others. If a person comes to a psychotherapist with a partner, he often tries to show himself as perfection, and the partner is almost crazy. It is not uncommon for people with OCD to bring a paper to the therapist listing all of their partner’s shortcomings. When their mistakes and shortcomings are pointed out to them, they try to blame someone else for them.

9. They are prone to outright lies. It’s one thing to lie to save someone’s feelings (something people with personality disorders don’t usually care about), and quite another to lie outright to protect themselves. Such individuals cannot admit that they are the problem and resort to deception. And if they do, they usually do it as dramatically as possible, trying to win over the interlocutor. The most dangerous lie of a person with antisocial personality disorder, often it threatens others with real mental trauma.

10. They have a distorted view of reality. Schizoid and schizotypal personalities have a distorted idea of ​​life and their place in it. They seem to look at the world through glasses through which everything is seen a little differently than it really is. Their view of the world is largely based on fantasy rather than reality.

These 10 signs may be a reason to suspect a person has a personality disorder, but remember that only a specialist can make a final diagnosis, so you should not jump to conclusions.