Overview
Overview – Personality Disorders, Cluster B
Personality disorders Cluster B are a group of mental illnesses that involve long-term patterns of thoughts and behaviors that are unhealthy and inflexible. They are characterized as the dramatic, emotional, and erratic illnesses. Those diagnosed with a Cluster B Personality Disorder tend to find it hard to regulate their emotions. They tend to exhibit overly emotional, or unpredictable thinking or behavior, related to interactions with others. Their behaviors are often considered threatening or disturbing.
Those with Cluster B personality disorders may share atypical brain features, some of which affect the amygdalae, two tiny brain organs that are involved in regulating emotion and alerting to potential danger.
As with other personality disorders, Cluster B demonstrates four defining characteristics:
- Distorted thinking patterns
- Problematic emotional responses
- Over- or under-regulate impulse control
- Interpersonal difficulties.
In order to be diagnosed with a Personality Disorder in Cluster B, the individual must exhibit at least two of the four typical defining characteristics.
The diagnosis is typically made in adulthood because these personality disorders represent a pattern of enduring problems that are stable over time. The pattern is seen in two or more of the following areas: thoughts, feelings, interpersonal relationships, and impulse control. The pattern is pervasive, inflexible, deviates markedly from cultural norms and expectations, and leads to distress or impairment.
Personality Disorders, Cluster B, presents information on four types of disorders, one type each day for four days. These are:
- Antisocial Personality Disorder
- Borderline Personality Disorder
- Histrionic Personality Disorder
- Narcissistic Personality Disorder
On the fifth day, the Team reviews each of the Personality Disorders in Cluster B, helping you to fix the information in your memory and to reaffirm the strategies for dealing with each type. Typically, the average person needs to review information three or four times to move it from short-term memory into long-term memory.
This concludes the Overview for Personality Disorders, Cluster B.
