Managing the effects of personality disorders on your life
We understand how difficult it can be to live with a personality disorder. There will be many unanswered questions at first, as you try to understand what your diagnosis means and how it will impact your life. However, you can still lead a rewarding life with the ability to reduce your symptoms day-to-day.
At Aspris, we understand how daunting it can feel to be faced with the challenges of a personality disorder. Our multidisciplinary team of mental health professionals have helped many people in your situation to manage the effects of their condition. Just like them, you’ll feel better equipped to cope with your responsibilities once you’ve enlisted professional support.
It’s important that you don’t feel shame for what you’re going through. Being diagnosed with a personality disorder is more common than you may think. With the help of our expert personality disorder teams in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, it is perfectly possible to achieve your goals and look forward to a brighter road ahead. Let us help you to get there and start to believe that your dreams for the future can become a reality.
How to recognise the signs of different personality disorders
There are various conditions that are defined as personality disorders. Each one affects the way you think, feel and behave. The different disorders all have associated symptoms. Some of them can overlap between different disorders, while each person will also experience their own unique symptoms.
The first signs of personality disorders are often extreme emotions and behaviours. They may display as increased anger, being more impulsive or obsessive, for example. You wouldn’t need to experience every symptom of a particular disorder to receive a diagnosis. You will always be treated based on your own personal symptoms and needs.
There are 10 different types of personality disorder, which are grouped into three categories as follows:
Suspicious personality disorders
- Paranoid personality disorder – this can cause difficulty with trusting people and forming relationships due to frequently feeling threatened, leaving you unlikely to confide in anyone and struggling to relax. You may believe that there is hidden danger in many situations that appear harmless to others, or you may exaggerate small things that do happen to you, such as a negative comment from someone.
- Schizoid personality disorder – people diagnosed with this can often function well, with an absence of psychotic symptoms such as those in schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. The symptoms of this condition can stem from negative thoughts and feelings, which may leave you very isolated from others while at the same time struggling to be along with your own thoughts.
- Schizotypal personality disorder – again, this doesn’t usually cause psychosis, but your thoughts and behaviours can result in distorted thoughts and an inability to get close to others. You may struggle to relate to people due to using unusual language or expressing irregular beliefs, such as thinking that you have special powers. The tension you may feel when others question your statements can leave you feeling highly anxious in social situations.
- Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) – this can cause you to regularly put your own needs before those of anyone else, with a lack of empathy or guilt. Feeling easily bored is common, which can result in you acting impulsively without consideration for those around you. Aggressive behaviour is another common symptom. You might end up in dangerous situations due to your behaviour.
Emotional and impulsive personality disorders
- Borderline personality disorder (BPD) – this is also known as emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD). It can frequently impact your relationships, self-image and emotions, in a potentially extreme manner. A subtype of BPD is impulsive personality disorder, which results in the person enjoying being the centre of attention and being very adventurous, carrying out potentially dangerous activities.
- Histrionic personality disorder – approval-seeking qualities are dominant with this condition, which can result in careless behaviour. To ensure that you’re centre of attention and satisfy a desire to entertain others, you may potentially make hasty decisions and cause others to see you as ‘dramatic’ or overemotional.
- Narcissistic personality disorder – you may feel an overriding need for people to be aware of your achievements, often due to having low self-esteem. At the same time, this disorder can cause to believe that you are better or more deserving than other people, which can lead to you feeling resentful of others’ successes. This may result in people perceiving you as selfish.
Anxious personality disorders
- Obsessive compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) – this can cause issues with perfectionism and controlling behaviours. This may display in ways such as being extremely hard on yourself with the standards you expect, as well as demanding high standards from others. This then leads to high anxiety if things don’t turn out perfectly.
- Avoidant personality disorder – also known as anxious personality disorder, this most commonly leads to avoiding situations with other people involved, such as work or socialising, due to a belief that you may be shamed or rejected. You will likely feel a high amount of anxiety over work, socialising or other activities because of this, which can lead to isolation and loneliness.
- Dependent personality disorder – this is where you may feel that you cannot function in daily life without support from others, to the point where you are afraid of being alone. This condition can greatly impact self-confidence as you don’t see yourself as capable of handling your responsibilities, instead feeling weak and letting others do a lot of things for you.
Specialist outpatient treatment for personality disorders in Dubai and Abu Dhabi
At our wellbeing centres in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, we provide specialist outpatient treatment for personality disorders in a discreet environment. You can fit your weekly appointments around your other commitments, so that we can help you to manage your symptoms and regain control of daily life in a way that works for you.
Our highly-experienced team of specialists will perform an assessment to determine your needs and talk through your best course of action for treatment. All of our therapeutic methods adhere to NICE-approved guidelines, with the ability to focus on your own personal goals. We will discuss everything with you along the way and can adapt your programme as you progress, where needed.
Talking therapies are the most effective techniques for treating personality disorders. These may be undertaken on an individual basis or in group therapy, while appropriate medication is sometimes prescribed alongside these. The therapies we specialise in are:
- Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) – this helps you to address any emotional issues surrounding your personality disorder. DBT teaches you how to manage difficult emotions so that they don’t feel overwhelming. It does so by helping you to understand and accept why you feel these emotions, so that you can then challenge them when they arise.
- Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) – this focuses on how your thoughts affect your feelings and behaviours. CBT gives you the skills to change negative thought patterns, so that you can break the cycle that impacts your mental health. You are taught to approach and process situations and issues in a healthier way, using practical techniques.
What causes a personality disorder?
There are various influences thought to play a part in the development of personality disorders. What makes someone more likely to receive a diagnosis differs for each person, in the same way that everyone’s symptoms will be unique too. So there aren’t any definite known causes, as most research points to a combination of factors. These include:
- Early life – our personalities are shaped during childhood, so if you had a difficult time growing up, you may have developed coping strategies that contribute to a personality disorder as an adult. A diagnosis is often associated with trauma in early life, such as bereavement, neglect, or being in an accident. Not everyone who has these experiences will have these issues, as it all depends on each set of circumstances and how they are dealt with.
- Environment – our surroundings can have a big effect on our personalities. This may include our living situation, the resources we have available to us and our quality of life, including the care we receive. If we experience poverty, bullying or discrimination, have a difficult family life or endure unhealthy relationships of any kind, this can negatively impact how we develop and respond to events throughout our life.
- Genetics – although personality disorders have the potential to develop at some point during our lives as a complex blend of factors, genetics may contribute to a diagnosis too. As we are all born with unique personalities, it makes sense that our ability to cope, the nature of our emotions and our behaviours might be partly inherited at birth. However, research is ongoing in this area to establish how big a factor genetics actually are.
Help for personality disorders in Dubai and Abu Dhabi
Aspris have been treating personality disorders in the UAE since 2017, at our specialist clinic in Dubai, We have recently opened a second Wellbeing Centre in Abu Dhabi. We now offer expert help for personality disorders in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, at the following locations:
Personality disorder treatment in Dubai
Aspris Wellbeing Centre Dubai
Dubai City Walk, Al Nuzha Street
Building 19
Personality disorder treatment in Abu Dhabi
Aspris Wellbeing Centre Abu Dhabi
King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Street
Al Bateen
For further information call today on: (+971) 4 385 4493 (Dubai) / (+971) 2 651 8111 (Abu Dhabi) or submit an enquiry form in confidence. We will provide you with details on all our treatments and offer help on how to manage your mental health at a time that suits you.