Personality is a combination of traits, emotional reactions, attitudes, and behaviors. They are relatively stable and differentiate one individual from another. Personality develops from birth through adolescence and early adulthood, where it solidifies and becomes stable.
Personality is the synthesis of behaviors, cognitive processes, and emotions that make each person unique. Despite this uniqueness, both the “healthy” personality and the “troubled” personality have definite traits. At the same time, our personalities indeed allow others to predict our reactions to different situations.
A person with a “healthy” personality can efficiently cope with stressful situations. On the other hand, a person with a personality disorder is not adorned with this kind of adaptability and flexibility. The lack of adaptability and the limited range of adaptation reactions can confuse the person and those around them.
Role of environment in poor mental or emotional health
Unfortunately, a good personality can indeed be overshadowed by poor mental or emotional health. Our personalities solely rely on our environment in which we live.
During a normal day, everyone is subjected to a large number of external stimuli. They belong from different sources, such as meetings, calls, emails, social situations, and peers’ interactions. How a person reacts to these experiences affects his behavior, thoughts, and emotions. Mentally and emotionally healthy people have a positive vision and higher self-esteem. That’s why they can handle life challenges and problems efficiently. While people with poor mental and emotional health can’t cope with daily life stresses, such as losing a job. As a result, the environment changes their perception of the world and affect their behaviors, thoughts, and emotions.
Healthy development of the child
Acquiring the resilience necessary for good mental health begins in childhood. It is, therefore, crucial that children experience positive experiences. Healthy relationships between parents and their children, unconditional love, respect for individuality are essential. Besides, good relationships within the family and peers are also the factors that help build a child’s self-confidence. Moreover, it allows him to make connections effective with others.
On the other hand, behavioral models antisocial, domestic violence, neglect and bad treatment, addiction or mental illness in parents, or social isolation promote mental health problems and childhood mental illness. That stays the same with time.
Childhood events have a profound effect on behavior later in life.
Youth mental health is equally important as their physical health. Those who suffer from emotional problems are also more likely to suffer from physical and mental disorders. Symptoms of most mental illnesses manifest themselves during adolescence or early in life adults.
Research shows that young people’s level of confidence is linked to their integration among their peers. Further, it also relates how they perceive their appearance.
Child abuse and neglect obviously favor the risks of personality disorders in adulthood. Childhood events greatly influence the personality of children. Besides, it significantly affects their mental and emotional health.
Sexually abused patients show a high risk of psychopathology. Officially verified, physical assault can play a decisive role in developing antisocial and impulsive behavior.
Mental illness changes the existing personalities of individuals.
The best way to describe personality disorder is to start with the experiences of those affected. They experience intense emotional states, occurring suddenly and often challenging to control. People diagnosed with personality disorder suffer from a marked disturbance in their relationship with themselves and others.
A good personality can also be affected by the disturbance in the relationship with oneself and with others. Today, a personality disorder is known to be a recognizable clinical entity. However, some of its characteristics are found in other diseases. It has been about twenty-five years since borderline personality disorder is considered a mental illness in psychiatry classification systems.
The personality of an individual is influenced dramatically by his experiences, his environment, and genetic traits. A person’s character generally stays the same over time. A personality disorder is a way of thinking, feeling, and behaving that deviates from cultural expectations, causes anxiety or difficulty working, and persists over time.
Personality disorders affect a minimum of two of those areas.
- The way you ponder about yourself and others.
- How to react emotionally
- How to interact with others
- How to control someone’s behavior
Types of personality disorder
Let’s look at a few personality disorders that change the existing personality of an individual.
Antisocial Personality Disorder
It is a tendency to ignore or infringe on the rights of others. A person who faces personal social instability may not conform to social norms, repeatedly lie or deceive others, or behave in a misguided manner.
Avoidant personality disorder:
It is a pattern of extreme embarrassment, feelings of incompetence, and extreme sensitivity to criticism. People who avoid personality cannot agree to join people. Unless they are liked, they can engage in criticism or rejection or see themselves as good or socially incompetent.
Borderline personality disorder
It is a pattern of inconsistency in personal relationships. A person who has a borderline personality disorder may go extra miles away to avoid being discarded. They may make repeated suicide attempts, express inappropriate and intense anger, or continue to feel empty.
Dependent personality disorder:
Taking care of a pattern of need and behaving submissively. Individual Dependence People with a personal illness may have difficulty making daily decisions without the reassurance of others. Or when they feel alone, uncomfortable or helpless for fear of failing to take care of themselves.
Histrionic personality disorder:
It is a pattern of excessive emotion and demanding attention. People with hysterical personal disorders may experience anxiety when they are not the center of attention. They use their physical appearance to get their attention or move too fast or exaggerate emotions.
Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder:
It is a pattern of Commitment to Discipline, Perfection, and Control. A person with an obsessive-compulsive personality disorder may focus too much on details or schedules. They may be overworked for hobbies or spending time with friends, or be flexible in their morals and values.
Diagnosing personality disorder requires mental health professionals to look at long-term patterns of work and symptoms. Diagnosis is usually made in people 18 or older. People under 18 are not usually diagnosed with personality disorders because their personality is still developing. Some people with personality disorders may not recognize a problem at all. Also, people may have more than one personality disorder. It is estimated that 9% of American adults have at least one personal condition.
Treatment
Certain types of psychiatric treatment are effective in treating personality disorders. During psychotherapy, a person can learn what plays a role in the disorder and its symptoms. They can talk about their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Psychotherapy can help a person understand the effects of their behavior on others and help manage or cope with symptoms and reduce behaviors that cause problems in work and relationships. The nature of treatment depends on the specific personality disorder, its severity, and the individual’s condition.
