What is a Personality Disorder?

A personality disorder is generally characterised by difficulties within an individual’s self-identity. Often there are also clear disparities in their social functioning, when compared with their social and cultural customs. These differences in dispositions stem from divergent internal experiences which alters the way an individual feels, acts, and reasons. Therefore, having a personality disorder can impact an individual’s perception of themselves, the people around them, their moods, their ability to empathise with others, and inhibit their actions. Together, these subjective experiences can trigger feelings of distress which manifests into a sequence of atypical habits and causes difficulties with daily functioning. There are a range of personality disorders, with each presentation having it’s own perceived psychological, behavioural and physical symptoms. Our practitioners have experience working with a wide range of personality disorders, especially borderline personality disorders.

What are the symptoms of a borderline personality disorder?

Psychological Symptoms of a personality disorder include:

• Variable goals 
• Variable self-image
• Feelings of confusion and irritability.

Behavioural Symptoms of a borderline personality disorder include:

• Unable to relate to people around them
• Struggling to maintain relationships 
• Frequent behavioural alterations 

Physical Symptoms of a borderline personality disorder include:

• Difficulty sleeping
• Digestion problems
• Increased risk of developing chronic health conditions

How to treat a personality disorder:

 Often, the first signs of a personality disorder can be traced back to late adolescence or early adulthood. Upon experiencing struggles coping with a personality disorder, it is essential to ask for professional support, as prompt intervention avoids encountering prospective difficulties. The general consensus emphasises the long-term benefits of attending psychotherapy. Psychotherapy is an intervention designed to help an individual acquire self-awareness. This is done through working closely with a therapist to establish the deep-rooted predicaments and triggers of an individual’s difficulties. By gaining insight into the whole self, the individual can work through their beliefs, rectifying any irrational concepts. This reconstruction in turn remedies an individual’s feelings and guides more normative behaviours. Psychotherapy therefore can ameliorate an individual’s distress, promoting healthy relationships, practical patterns, and most importantly, self-love. More specifically, this can be accomplished by committing to weekly psychodynamic, psychoanalytic, CBT and DBT sessions.