There are several types of personality disorders and they have no cure, but treatment to improve the patient’s quality of life. This is because the symptoms of this type of disorder significantly impact a person’s life. This brings harm to their personal and professional relationships, leading to greater social maladaptation and suffering for them.
Therefore, in this article, we will clarify what personality disorder is, what its types are, and how hypnosis can help patients deal with some of these symptoms. Check it out!
What is a personality disorder?
The DSM Manual (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) is a manual created by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) to define how mental disorders are diagnosed. It is commonly used for consultation by professionals and students in the health field. We are currently in its 5th edition.
According to the DSM V (p. 646, 647), personality disorders are generally behavior patterns that persist over time, in the way the patient perceives, reacts, and relates to someone or something, and that cause significant distress or functional impairment in social relationships.
Its cause is described by a combination of genetic, environmental, life, and family history factors. In other words, it is multifactorial!
Therefore, the diagnosis is clinical and must be made only by qualified psychologists or psychiatrists.
Let’s look at some examples of disorders below.
Types of personality disorder
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) divides types of personality disorders into 3 groups (A, B, and C), based on similar characteristics.
The group A is defined by patients who seem odd or eccentric. In this group, personality disorders and their distinctive characteristics are:
- Paranoid: distrust and suspicion;
- Schizoid: disinterest in other people;
- Schizotypal: eccentric ideas and behaviors.
The group B is defined by patients with dramatic, emotional, or erratic behavior. In this group, personality disorders and their distinctive characteristics are:
- Antisocial: social irresponsibility, significant lack of empathy, difficulty dealing with social rules;
- Borderline: intolerance to rejection, instability, and emotional dysregulation;
- Histrionic: Patients with histrionic personality disorder use their physical appearance, acting inappropriately seductive or provocative, to draw others’ attention.
- Narcissistic: Intense need for admiration, significant lack of empathy, concern with fantasy of success, wealth, power, beauty, and love above normal.
The group C is defined by patients with anxious and apprehensive behavior. In this group, personality disorders and their distinctive characteristics are:
- Avoidant: avoiding interpersonal contact due to sensitivity to rejection
- Dependent: submission and need to be cared for
- Obsessive-compulsive: compulsion, rigidity, and obstinacy
How can hypnosis help with personality disorders?
According to the American Psychological Association (APA), with small considerations from the Brazilian Society of Hypnosis (SBH), hypnosis can be defined as a state of consciousness [intentionally induced] that involves focused attention and reduced peripheral awareness, characterized by an increased capacity for response to suggestion. In this state, the subject is led to experience changes in sensations, perceptions, thoughts, or behavior [goal-oriented].
With hypnosis, the therapist has the possibility of having another tool to enhance their work with patients. It broadens the patient’s perceptions and helps them find different ways to manage symptoms, such as anxiety.
There are also some studies showing that hypnosis already contributes to better understanding the behaviors of people with personality disorders. According to the BMC study, results indicate that in patients with personality disorders, hypnotic susceptibility influences their general personal functioning styles.
Another study from the National Library of Medicine demonstrates that hypnosis can, however, affect the recall of sexual and physical abuses and the manifestation of certain types of personality alterity. The authors hypothesize that the hypnotized group may require hypnosis to access more traumatic memories.
Therefore, hypnosis can be a tool that makes a difference in the lives of people who need to face some type of personality disorder. This is because hypnosis can help the therapist achieve more significant results in their sessions and assist in understanding the patient’s problems.
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