Abnormal Psychology 3018 PDs: Cluster B

They are the ‘dramatic’ and ‘emotional’ disorders.

• Antisocial PD.

• Borderline PD.

• Histrionic PD.

• Narcissistic PD.

The MOST dramatic disorder. It is characterised by attention seeking, overly dramatic displays of emotion in an exaggerated manner.

Histrionic = theatrical in manner.

It seems as though they are acting, living on stage the whole time.

They are seductive in appearance (with a focus on grooming).

They often deny anger and hostility.

Manipulate others. They can be flirtatious, gregarious.

Dramatic but also superficial.

Narcissistic, Borderline, Anti-Social PDs.

Psychoactive substance abuse.

• ‘Vulnerable Child’ - felt unloved, lonely, unseen, needing attention and love.

• ‘Punitive Parent’ - (actual or perceived messages from caregiver or outside world) ‘you are not lovable, you screw things up, no one will put up with you.’
  The person will develop strategies to overcome the feeling of being unloved.

They will go into ‘attention-seeking mode’ (drama queen mode).
Although these emotions are hollow, they learn that this is the way to get attention and be in touch with others.

• Emotional instability/affective dysregulation when reacting to environmental and interpersonal situations.

• Poor impulse control.

• Unstable identity and insecure attachments.

High on emotional sensitivity and reactivity.

They are quick to overreact (heat up) and slow to reach emotional base line (cool down).

About 10%

Promiscuity, self-harm, spending, binge eating, poor limit setting, suicidal behaviour.

• Punitive Parent: abusive, neglectful.

• Abandoned/Abused Child: intense fear of abandonment, fears being abused.

• Angry/Impulsive Child: undisciplined, fulfilling needs, without control, doesn’t care about consequences.
  To deal with these feelings the child develops coping strategies. They push the emotions as far away as possible and become a ‘Detached Protector’.

Detached Protector:

1. Social withdrawal.

2. Avoidance.

3. Substance use.

4. Medication abuse.

5. Binge-eating.

6. Non-suicidal self-injury.

Often harm themselves.

Because they form intense and unstable relationships. They will idealise the person and then hate them.
They can become possessive and resentful if the partner is paying attention to others, isolate the person from their friends and family.

Because someone who is emotionally unstable and threatening to kill themselves will lead them to psychiatric help.

• Outpatient: 10%

- Inpatient: 15-20%

Mood disorders, eating disorders, substance-use disorders, anxiety disorders and PTSD.

The most debilitating PD.

It is evident around the age of 15, before they will likely have Conduct Disorder.

They have repeated reckless disregard for others.

| They victimise and blame others for their inadequacies.

Shallow and manipulative.

Impulsive, aggressive, charismatic and deceitful traits.

They cannot empathise and will be depressed because they felt betrayed by their victim.

That diagnosis is NOT dependant on the presence of criminal behaviours.

They do not understand the effect their behaviour has on others.

Borderline PD, Narcissistic PD, Histrionic PD & Schizotypal PD.

• 'everybody is out to get for themselves.'

• 'I need to protect myself, I need to defend myself.'

• 'My needs are paramount and much more important than anyone else's needs.'

• 'Rules don't apply to me. If you obey rules, you are not smart, you will loose in the end.'

• 'Better to beat the system and get what you need.'

• 'It's me against everyone.'

They are self-centred and entitled, it is the callous and exploitative behaviour that leads to diagnosis.

• Punitive Parent: abusive, abandonment.

• Vulnerable Child: abused/abandoned.

• Enraged Child: becomes aggressive when treated unfairly.
  In order to cope they go into:

• Predator: severely hurting/killing in a premeditated way in order to pursue their own interests.

• Bully/Attack: acting aggressively in a planned manner to accomplish their needs or meet their interests.

• Conning/Manipulative: lying and cheating but trying to make others believe that they are behaving well.

Maintaining a high self-esteem by eliciting external admiration to compensate for internal sense of falseness.

A fragile self-esteem, envy, self-consciousness, vulnerability.

React with self-righteousness, pride, contempt, vanity, and superiority.

Grandiosity, entitlement, privilege, special treatment, exaggerated sense of self-importance, arrogant behaviour and attitudes.

They can be cold, disinterested, snobbish and patronising.

All the others in the same cluster: antisocial, histrionic and borderline, as well as substance abuse.

• Demanding Parent: extremely high standards and expectations, believe that if the child shows emotions it means they are weak, anything less than perfect is not good enough.

• Vulnerable Child: feels like a failure, humiliated, powerless, unable to meet parental standards.

• Enraged Child: becomes aggressive when others address issues related to the vulnerable child mode.

Flips into the 'Self-Aggrandizer' mode:

• inflated sense of self-importance.

• unrealistic ideas about their professional success.

• devalues those who don't admire them.

• demands recognition.