Mental flexibility is essential to success in life. A personality disorder is a way of thinking, feeling and behaving that causes distress or problems functioning in society and lasts over time. These disorders are classified as a group of mental illnesses that involve maladaptive, inflexible long-term patterns of thoughts and behavior. Typical personality disorders include paranoid personality disorder, schizoid personality disorder, borderline personality disorder (BDP), histrionic personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder (NPD).
People living with personality disorders tend to experience severe challenges and dramatic instability in both their professional and personal relationships, and often have trouble dealing with everyday stressors and problems.
The cause of personality disorders is not always clear, but many mental health professionals believe genetics and childhood experiences, particularly early-age traumas, often play major roles in their development. Each personality disorder involves different symptoms, ranging from mild to extremely severe. Quite often, the person living with a personality disorder doesn’t realize or acknowledge the depth and degree of their issues and may be quick to place blame on other people which can make diagnosing and treating personality disorders difficult.
