It is important to keep in mind that personality disturbances exist along a spectrum from normal variations to pathological extremes, and it’s common for all of us to exhibit certain characteristics from this spectrum to varying degrees.
Cluster A (odd and eccentric):
- Paranoid Personality Disorder: suspicious, distrustful, hostile, irritable, jealous, feeling unjustly treated, or having a tendency for conspiracy thinking.
- Schizoid Personality Disorder: isolated, showing little interest in others, poor eye contact, excessively serious, preoccupied with inanimate objects or metaphysical constructs.
- Schizotypal Personality Disorder: multiple eccentricities in presentation, speech, language, and eccentric thinking, magical thinking, sometimes even illusions and ideas of reference, lack of friends.
Cluster B (dramatic, emotional, and unpredictable):
- Antisocial Personality Disorder: since age 15, a pattern of disregard and violation of the rights of others, aggressive, irritable, impulsive, irresponsible, lacking remorse, dishonest, and prone to lying and cheating.
- Borderline Personality Disorder: manipulative, with a sense of inner emptiness, impulsive, unstable and intense personal relationships with fluctuations between idealization and devaluation, threats or self-harming gestures, self-mutilation.
- Histrionic Personality Disorder: dramatic, emotional, superficial, seductive, or sexually provocative, and suggestible.
- Narcissistic Personality Disorder: self-centered, with unlimited fantasies of success, power, brilliance, or ideal love, lacking empathy, envious, exploitative in pursuing their own goals.
Cluster C (anxious or fearful):
- Avoidant Personality Disorder: shy, timid, inhibited in interpersonal relationships, fearful of criticism, disapproval, and rejection. They see themselves as inadequate and inferior to others.
- Dependent Personality Disorder: dependent, need advice and reassurance from those around them, have difficulty expressing disagreement out of fear of losing support, have difficulty initiating projects and doing things on their own.
- Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder: perfectionists, orderly, rigid, preoccupied with order and rules, lacking spontaneity, overly serious, persistent, and stubborn.
Mixed Personality Disorders: Other personality disorders that are not included in these clusters are:
- Passive-Aggressive Personality Disorder: displays obstructive behavior, stubbornness, and inefficiency, resists passively in performing routine occupational tasks, argumentative, and complains about not being understood and appreciated.
- Depressive Personality Disorder: pessimistic, unhappy, sad, with low self-esteem, prone to worrying and guilt.
- Sadistic Personality Disorder: relationships are dominated by cruel or humiliating behavior.
In the field of clinical psychology, various assessment tools and specialized tests are used to identify and understand different personality types. These methods help explore the nuances and individual characteristics of each person in a comprehensive and personalized manner, thus contributing to the development of a deeper perspective on each individual’s personality.