Category: Personality Disorder

Intermittent Explosive Disorder

Learn About Intermittent Explosive Disorder

Intermittent explosive disorder (IED) is an impulse-control disorder characterized by sudden episodes of unwarranted anger. The disorder is typified by hostility, impulsivity, and recurrent aggressive outbursts. People with IED essentially “explode” into a rage despite a lack of apparent provocation or reason. Individuals suffering from intermittent explosive disorder have described feeling as though they lose control of their emotions and become overcome with anger. People with IED may threaten to or actually attack objects, animals, and/or other humans. IED is said to typically begin during the early teen years and evidence has suggested that it has the potential of predisposing individuals to depression, anxiety, and substance abuse disorders. Intermittent explosive disorder is not diagnosed unless a person has displayed at least three episodes of impulsive aggressiveness.

Individuals with IED have reported that once they have released the tension that built up as a result of their rage, they feel a sense of relief. Once the relief wears off, however, some people report experiencing feelings of remorse or embarrassment. While IED can be extremely disruptive to an individual’s life, as well as to the lives of those around him or her, IED can be managed through proper treatment, through education about anger management, and possibly through the use of medication.

Signs and Symptoms of Intermittent Explosive Disorder

There are a variety of symptoms that people who have intermittent explosive disorder will display based upon individual genetic makeup, development of social skills, coping strategies, presence of co-occurring disorders, and use or addiction to drugs or alcohol. The following are some examples of various signs and symptoms that a person suffering from IED may exhibit:

Behavioral symptoms:

  • Physical aggressiveness
  • Verbal aggressiveness
  • Angry outbursts
  • Physically attacking people and/or objects
  • Damaging property
  • Road rage

Physical symptoms:

  • Headaches
  • Muscle tension
  • Chest tightness
  • Palpitations
  • Tingling
  • Feelings of pressure in the head
  • Tremors

Cognitive symptoms:

  • Low frustration tolerance
  • Feeling a loss of control over one’s thoughts
  • Racing thoughts

Psychosocial symptoms:

  • Feelings of rage
  • Uncontrollable irritability
  • Brief periods of emotional detachment    more

What Is Misophonia?

Do certain daily sounds trigger an over-the-top emotional reaction, but yet don’t seem to bother anyone else?

This is the case with misophonia — a strong dislike or hatred of specific sounds.

Misophonia is a disorder in which certain sounds trigger emotional or physiological responses that some might perceive as unreasonable given the circumstance. Those who have misophonia might describe it as when a sound “drives you crazy.” Their reactions can range from anger and annoyance to panic and the need to flee. The disorder is sometimes called selective sound sensitivity syndrome.

Individuals with misophonia often report they are triggered by oral sounds  — the noise someone makes when they eat, breathe, or even chew. Other adverse sounds include keyboard or finger tapping or the sound of windshield wipers. Sometimes a small repetitive motion is the cause — someone fidgets, jostles you, or wiggles their foot.

Similarly, people with misophonia also say they often react to the visual stimuli that accompanies sounds, and may also respond intensely to repetitive motions. Researchers believe that those with misophonia may already have issues with how their brains filter sounds and that one of the features of “misophonic sounds” may be their repetitive noise. That repetition then exacerbates the other auditory processing problems.

The disorder appears to range from mild to severe. Individuals report a range of physiologic and emotional responses, with accompanying cognitions. If you have a mild reaction, you might feel:

  • Anxious
  • Uncomfortable
  • The urge to flee
  • Disgust

If your response is more severe, the sound in question might cause:

  • Rage
  • Anger
  • Hatred
  • Panic
  • Fear
  • Emotional distress

The disorder can put a cramp in your social life. Those with misophonia have been known to develop anticipatory anxiety when going into situations where trigger sounds may be present. You might avoid restaurants or eat separately from your spouse, family, or roommates.

Over time, you may also respond to visual triggers, too. Seeing something that you know may create the offending sound may elicit a response.

more

Brief Psychotic Disorder

Brief psychotic disorder (BPD) according to DSM-5 is the sudden onset of psychotic behavior that lasts less than 1 month followed by complete remission with possible future relapses. It is differentiated from schizophreniform disorder and schizophrenia by the duration of the psychosis. The diagnosis is often anticipatory or retrospective due to the diagnostic requirement of complete remission within 1 month.

Brief psychotic disorder is an acute but transient disorder with the onset of one or more of the following psychotic symptoms:

  • Delusions
  • Hallucinations
  • Disorganized speech
  • Grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior

At least one of these symptoms must be delusions, hallucinations, or disorganized speech. The symptoms in BPD last between one day to one month, with a complete return to premorbid level of functioning after the disease course in response to antipsychotic medications. The disturbance in behavior cannot be better accounted for by schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, mood disorder with psychotic features, or be a direct result of a drug, medication, or medical condition like thyrotoxicosis, sarcoidosis, or syphilis.

Etiology

Although unclear, the underlying etiology of brief psychotic disorder can be a stressful event or trauma. There may be a genetic, neurological, or environmental component to BPD as well. The specific trigger of BPD, if present, must be specified as follows:

  • Brief psychotic disorder with marked stressor(s) is also referred to as brief reactive psychosis. It is the onset of psychotic symptoms that occur in response to a traumatic event that would be stressful for anyone in similar circumstances in the same culture
  • Brief psychotic disorder without marked stressor(s) is the onset of psychotic symptoms that occur in the absence of a traumatic event that would be stressful for anyone in similar circumstances in the same culture
  • Brief psychotic disorder with postpartum onset is defined as the onset of psychotic symptoms that occur within four weeks postpartum   more

Histrionic Personality Disorder

Histrionic personality disorder (HPD) is a mental health condition marked by unstable emotions, a distorted self-image and an overwhelming desire to be noticed. People with HPD often behave dramatically or inappropriately to get attention.

The word “histrionic” means “dramatic or theatrical.”

For people with histrionic personality disorder, their self-esteem depends on the approval of others and doesn’t come from a true feeling of self-worth. They have an overwhelming desire to be noticed and often behave dramatically or inappropriately to get attention.

People with histrionic personality disorder often don’t realize their behavior and way of thinking may be problematic.

Histrionic personality disorder is one of a group of conditions called “Cluster B” personality disorders, which involve dramatic and erratic behavior.

Who does histrionic personality disorder affect?

Histrionic personality disorder usually begins in your late teens or early 20s.

Women and people assigned female at birth (AFAB) are more commonly diagnosed with histrionic personality disorder than men and people assigned male at birth (AMAB), but researchers think that men and people AMAB may be underdiagnosed.

How common is histrionic personality disorder?

Histrionic personality disorder is relatively rare. Researchers estimate that about 1% of people have the condition.

What are the signs and symptoms of histrionic personality disorder?

The main feature of histrionic personality disorder is displaying excessive, superficial emotionality and sexuality to draw attention to themselves.

A person with histrionic personality disorder may:

  • Feel underappreciated or depressed when they’re not the center of attention.
  • Have rapidly shifting and shallow emotions.
  • Be dramatic and extremely emotionally expressive, even to the point of embarrassing friends and family in public.
  • Have a “larger than life” presence.
  • Be persistently charming and flirtatious.
  • Be overly concerned with their physical appearance.
  • Use their physical appearance to draw attention to themselves by wearing bright-colored clothing or revealing clothing.
  • Act inappropriately sexual with most of the people they meet, even when they’re not sexually attracted to them.
  • Speak dramatically and express strong opinions but with few facts or details to support their opinions.
  • Be gullible and easily influenced by others, especially by the people they admire.
  • Think that their relationships with others are closer than they usually are.
  • Have difficulty maintaining relationships, often seeming fake or shallow in their interactions with others.
  • Need instant gratification and become bored or frustrated very easily.
  • Constantly seek reassurance or approval.

What causes histrionic personality disorder?   more

Narcissistic personality disorder

Overview

Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental health condition in which people have an unreasonably high sense of their own importance. They need and seek too much attention and want people to admire them. People with this disorder may lack the ability to understand or care about the feelings of others. But behind this mask of extreme confidence, they are not sure of their self-worth and are easily upset by the slightest criticism.

A narcissistic personality disorder causes problems in many areas of life, such as relationships, work, school or financial matters. People with narcissistic personality disorder may be generally unhappy and disappointed when they’re not given the special favors or admiration that they believe they deserve. They may find their relationships troubled and unfulfilling, and other people may not enjoy being around them.

Treatment for narcissistic personality disorder centers around talk therapy, also called psychotherapy.

Narcissistic personality disorder affects more males than females, and it often begins in the teens or early adulthood. Some children may show traits of narcissism, but this is often typical for their age and doesn’t mean they’ll go on to develop narcissistic personality disorder.

 

Symptoms

Symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder and how severe they are can vary. People with the disorder can:

  • Have an unreasonably high sense of self-importance and require constant, excessive admiration.
  • Feel that they deserve privileges and special treatment.
  • Expect to be recognized as superior even without achievements.
  • Make achievements and talents seem bigger than they are.
  • Be preoccupied with fantasies about success, power, brilliance, beauty or the perfect mate.
  • Believe they are superior to others and can only spend time with or be understood by equally special people.
  • Be critical of and look down on people they feel are not important.
  • Expect special favors and expect other people to do what they want without questioning them.
  • Take advantage of others to get what they want.
  • Have an inability or unwillingness to recognize the needs and feelings of others.
  • Be envious of others and believe others envy them.
  • Behave in an arrogant way, brag a lot and come across as conceited.
  • Insist on having the best of everything — for instance, the best car or office.

At the same time, people with narcissistic personality disorder have trouble handling anything they view as criticism. They can:

  • Become impatient or angry when they don’t receive special recognition or treatment.
  • Have major problems interacting with others and easily feel slighted.
  • React with rage or contempt and try to belittle other people to make themselves appear superior.
  • Have difficulty managing their emotions and behavior.
  • Experience major problems dealing with stress and adapting to change.
  • Withdraw from or avoid situations in which they might fail.
  • Feel depressed and moody because they fall short of perfection.
  • Have secret feelings of insecurity, shame, humiliation and fear of being exposed as a failure.   more