What are Personality Disorders?

Your personality, which develops during your childhood, is what makes you, you. It’s how you see and relate to the world and the people in it. You inherit certain traits of your personality through your parents.  Where you grew up, events in your life, and your relationships with your family and friends are all part of your personality. Both your genes and the environment contribute to your personality.

While causes of Personality Disorders (PD) can be hereditary, they may also develop because of a dysfunctional family. Some events that can trigger a PD are living with an alcoholic, or someone suffering from a mental illness, or being a victim of sexual or physical abuse. PD significantly disrupts the lives of both the affected person and those who care about that person.  PDs may cause problems with relationships, work or school, and can lead to social isolation or alcohol or drug abuse.

What are the Types of Personality Disorders?

There are ten different types of Personality Disorders.  These are grouped into three categories as noted below:

• Cluster A (Odd, bizarre, eccentric behavior)
• Paranoid behavior – a distrust of family, friends, and spouse/partner
• Schizoid – directs attention toward their own inner life, away from the external world, almost like a fantasy life.
• Schizotypal – displays odd appearance, behavior, and speech; fear social interaction; thinks others are harmful.
• Cluster B (Dramatic, Erratic)
• Antisocial – more common in men than in women; callous regarding feelings of others; no regard for social rules; can be irritable and aggressive, impulsive.
• Borderline – lacks a sense of self; feels empty or abandoned; instability in relationships; experiences outbursts of anger and violence.
• Histrionic – loves to attract attention, like they are “acting out a part”; take great care of their appearance;  crave excitement.
• Narcissistic – has an extreme feeling of self-importance and entitlement; need to be admired and envied; readily lies and exploits others to get what he wants; controlling.
• Cluster C (Anxious, fearful behavior)
• Avoidant – feel socially unaccepted or inferior; always a fear of being embarrassed, criticized, or rejected.
• Dependent – lack of self-confidence; inadequate; needs to be taken care of by someone.
• Obsessive-compulsive – excessive when it comes to details and organization; perfectionist almost to a fault.

Getting the proper treatment at the Florida House Experience

Here at The Florida House Experience, we pride ourselves in being on the forefront of mental health care, offering cutting-edge approaches that integrate the medical, psychiatric, and clinical components of treatment, such as our Neuro-Rehabilitative Services. We firmly believe that any mental health disorder diagnosis should be quantifiable and that the recommended treatments for our patients have been proven effective.

While other treatment centers diagnose based only the description of symptoms, also known as “guess work,” we utilize a series of biometrics, based on brain imaging, genetic blood testing, and other advanced protocols to provide our patients with a full interpretation of their condition. These biometrics and diagnostic tools are used to scientifically track the progression of treatment and even predict when our patients will experience a “flare-up” with their disorder. By using state-of-the-art systems, like our qEEG-guided Neurofeedback, we are able to personalize each patients’ treatment plan to fit their specific needs. In order to satisfy the needs of each patient, we offer an 8-Tier Neuro-Rehabilitative treatment program which includes:

• Comprehensive Neuro-Psychological Testing
• Heart Rate Variability & Biosound Monitoring
• Quantitative Electroencephalography (qEEG)
• QEEG-Guided Neurofeedback Training
• Electrical Nerve Stimulation Therapy
• High Frequency Pulsed Electromagnetic Stimulation Therapy
• Deep Brain Stimulation Therapy
• Computerized Cognitive Brain Training