Personality Disorder Concepts: Defining Characteristics
These are the defining characteristics of PDs, each of which are different depending on the PD in question.
The situations that trigger a maladaptive response that is reflected in the person’s behavioral, interpersonal, cognitive, and affective styles. Triggering events can be intrapersonal (e.g. failing an exam), or interpersonal (e.g. being criticised).
ASPD: Social standards and rules.
AVPD: Close relationships; being social/in public.
BPD: The expectation of meeting goals; maintaining close relationships; real or imagined abandonment.
DPD: The expectation that they can rely on themselves; being alone.
HPD: Relationships, particularly with those they’re attracted to.
NPD: Self-evaluation, either by themselves or others.
OCPD: Unstructured situations; meeting other’s standards (in all aspects of life: work, family, etc).
PPD: Close relationships; personal questions.
STPD: Close relationships.
SZPD: Close relationships.
The way in which the person reacts to a triggering event.
ASPD: Impulsive, irritable, aggressive; irresponsible and struggles to keep commitments; relies on themselves, uses cunning and force; risk-taking and thrill-seeking.
AVPD: Tense and self-conscious; controlled speech & behaviour; appear apprehensive and awkward; self-criticising and overly humble.
BPD: Self-damaging behaviours (self-harm, self-sabotage, suicidal ideation); aggression; achieve less than they could (e.g. in work or school); chronic insomnia & irregular circadian rhythms (”body clocks”); feel helpless & empty void.
DPD: Docile, passive, non-assertive, insecure, and submissive; doubts themselves & lacks self-confidence.
HPD: Charming, dramatic, expressive; demanding, self-indulgent, inconsiderate; attention-seeking, mood swings, impulsive, unpredictable, and superficial.
NPD: Self-centred, egotistical, self-assured; dominates conversations; seeks approval and attention; impatient, arrogant, hypersensitive.
OCPD: Perfectionists; workaholics; dependable, stubborn, possessive; indecisive, prone to procrastination.
PPD: Always tense and hypervigilant; defensive, argumentative, guarded.
STPD: Eccentric, bizarre; strange speech; struggles with work and school and often become drifters and wanderers; avoids long-term commitment and looses touch with society’s expectations; dissociative.
SZPD: Lethargic, inattentive, eccentric; slow and monotone speech; rarely spontaneous; indifferent.
The way they relate to others.
ASPD: Deceitful; irritable, antagonistic and aggressive; disregards their and other’s safety; distrustful; lacks empathy; competitive.
AVPD: Sensitive to rejection; want acceptance but are too scared; withdraw and avoid when afraid; test people to see if they’re safe to interact with.
BPD: “Paradoxical instability”; splitting (idealise & cling vs devalue & dismiss); sensitive to rejection; “abandonment depression” & separation anxiety; superficial yet quickly developed and intense relationships; “extraordinarily intolerant” of being alone.
DPD: People-pleasers, self-sacrificing, clingy & needs reassurance; over-compliant & over-reliant on others; want others to be in control of their lives; avoids arguments; puts themselves down so they can receive the support of others; urgently seeks a new relationship when one ends.
HPD: Needs attention; flirtatious, manipulative; lacks empathy; overestimates intimacy of relationships.
NPD: Exploitative; self-indulgent; charming, pleasant & endearing; lacks empathy; irresponsible; jealous; needs approval and admiration.
OCPD: Very aware of social hierarchy; deferential to superiors and haughty to subordinates; polite and loyal; insist that their way is the right way to do things, because they are anxious to ensure perfection; stubborn; devoted to work which interferes with relationships.
PPD: Distrustful, secretive, suspicious, tend to isolate themselves and avoid intimacy; hypersensitive to criticism; bears grudges and blames others; reluctant to open up for fear of vulnerability.
STPD: Loners; socially anxious, apprehensive, suspicious and paranoid, which doesn’t fade as they get to know people; tends to live on the margins of society and relationships; often choose jobs with minimal social interaction that are usually below their skill level; indifferent to social norms.
SZPD: Aloof, loners, reserved, solitary; socially awkward; tend to fade into the background; happy to remain alone.
How the person perceives and thinks about a problem and its solution.
ASPD: Impulsive; realistic; very aware of social cues; prone to executive dysfunction.
AVPD: Hypervigilant; distracted and preoccupied with their fears of rejection.
BPD: Inflexible (splitting) & impulsive; difficulty learning from the past; external loss of control leads them to blame others to avoid feeling powerless; emotions fluctuate between hope and despair; unstable self-image and fragmented sense of self; unable to tolerate frustration; brief psychotic episodes; dissociation; intense rage; difficulty focusing & processing information.
DPD: Suggestible and persuadable; optimistic, sometimes to the point of naïveté; uncritical; minimises difficulties and are easily taken advantage of.
HPD: Impulsive, dramatic; vague; suggestible; relies on intuition; avoids reflection and introspection as so to avoid realising their dependency on others; needs approval from others; has separate real/inner/private & constructed/outer/public selves; tendency to mimic speech patterns.
NPD: Focuses on feelings rather than facts; compulsive lying (to themselves as well as others); inflexible, impatient, persistent; superiority; unrealistic goals of success, power, ideal love.
OCPD: Rule & detail oriented; difficulty with prioritising; inflexible, unimaginative; conflicted between assertiveness & defiance vs obedience & pleasing people.
PPD: Mistrustful; hypervigilant; focuses on feelings (of paranoia) rather than facts; brief psychotic episodes; their need to find evidence for their paranoid suspicions gives them a tendency for authoritarianism.
STPD: Scattered; obsessive and tends to ruminate; superstitious, bizarre fantasies; vague ideas of reference (thinking things are about them when they’re not, e.g. someone laughing is directed at them) and magical thinking (thinking they caused something to happen by thinking about it); dissociative.
SZPD: Distracted; difficulty organising their thoughts; vague and indecisive; difficulty with introspection and reflection.
How the person expresses and experiences emotions.
ASPD: Superficially expresses emotions; avoids emotions that will make them vulnerable; rarely feels guilt, shame or remorse; unable to tolerate boredom, depression, & frustration and needs stimulation.
AVPD: Shy & apprehensive; feels empty, sad, lonely & tense; depersonalisation.
BPD: Mood swings; inappropriately intense anger; feelings of emptiness, boredom, a “void”; emotional dysregulation.
DPD: Insecure & anxious; lacks self-confidence & fears being alone; fears abandonment & rejection; often sad or somber.
HPD: Displays intense, extreme emotions but may only feel them shallowly; sensitive to rejection; mood swings; need reassurance that they are loved.
NPD: Presents as self-confident and nonchalant; when criticised or rejected (”narcissistic injury”) they experience extreme shame which is often redirected into anger (”narc rage”/shame redirect); splitting; lacks empathy and so has difficulty with commitments.
OCPD: Somber, difficulty expressing feelings; avoids emotions that will make them vulnerable; comes across as stiff and stilted.
PPD: Cold, aloof, humourless; difficulty expressing feelings; tendency for anger and jealousy.
STPD: Cold, humourless, aloof; difficult to engage with; suspicious and mistrustful; hypersensitive; may react inappropriately for the situation or not at all.
SZPD: Humourless, cold, aloof; indifferent; lacks empathy; emotionally and socially distant; difficulty responding to other people’s feelings.
The response pattern that reflects the person’s energy level, emotions and intensity of emotions, and how quick they react.
ASPD: Irresponsible, aggressive and impulsive.
BPD: Passive (dependent subtype); hyperreactive (histrionic subtype); irritable (passive-aggressive subtype).
DPD: Low energy; fearful, sad or withdrawn; melancholic.
HPD: Hyperresponsive; needs attention from others.
NPD: Active and responsive; has special talents and developed language early.
OCPD: Irritable, difficult, anxious.
PPD: Active and hyperresponsive (narcissistic subtype); irritable (obsessive-compulsive and passive-aggressive subtypes).
STPD: Passive (schizoid subtype); fearful (avoidant subtype).
SZPD: Passive, difficulty experiencing pleasure and motivation (anhedonia).
ASPD: Fearful-dismissing.
AVPD: Preoccupied-fearful.
STPD: Fearful-dismissing.
The expectation (explicit or implied) from caregivers for how the child should be or act.
ASPD: “The end justifies the means.”
AVPD: “We don’t accept you, and probably nobody else will either.”
BPD: “If you grow up, bad things will happen to me [caregiver].”; overprotective, demanding or inconsistent parenting.
DPD: “You can’t do it by yourself.”
HPD: “I’ll give you attention when you do what I want.”
NPD: “Grow up and be wonderful, for me.”
OCPD: “You must do/be better to be worthwhile.”
PPD: “You’re different. Keep alert. Don’t make mistakes.”
STPD: “You’re a strange bird.”
SZPD: “Who are you, what do you want?”
The way they view and conceptualise themselves.
ASPD: Cunning & entitled.
AVPD: Inadequate & frightened of rejection.
BPD: Identity problems involving gender, career, loyalties, and values; self-esteem fluctuates with emotions.
DPD: Pleasant but inadequate, fragile.
HPD: Needs to be noticed.
NPD: Special, unique and entitled; relies on others for self-esteem.
OCPD: Responsible for anything that goes wrong, so they must be perfect.
PPD: They’re alone and disliked because they’re different and better than others.
STPD: Different than other people.
SZPD: Different from others; self-sufficient; indifferent to everything.
The way they view the world, others, and life in general.
ASPD: Life is dangerous and rules get in the way of their needs. They won’t be controlled or degraded.
AVPD: Life is unfair; even though they want to be accepted, people will reject them, so they’ll be vigilant & demand reassurance; escapes using fantasies and daydreams.
BPD: Splits between people and the world as either all-good or all-bad, resulting in commitment issues.
DPD: Other people need to take care of them because they are unable to.
HPD: Life makes them nervous, so they need attention and reassurance that they’re loved.
NPD: Life is full of opportunities; they expect admiration and respect.
OCPD: Life is unpredictable and expects too much, so they manage this by being in control and being perfectionists.
PPD: Life is unfair, unpredictable, demanding, and dangerous; they need to be suspicious and on guard against others, who are to blame for failures.
STPD: Life is strange and unusual; others have special magic intentions, so they are curious but also cautious when interacting with the world.
SZPD: Life is difficult and dangerous; if they trust no one and keep their distance from others, they won’t get hurt.
ASPD: Mistrust/abuse; entitlement; insufficient self-control; defectiveness; emotional deprivation; abandonment; social isolation.
AVPD: Defectiveness; social isolation; approval-seeking; self-sacrifice.
BPD: Abandonment; defectiveness; abuse/mistrust; emotional deprivation; social isolation; insufficient self-control.
DPD: Defectiveness; self-sacrifice; approval-seeking.
HPD: Approval-seeking; emotional deprivation; defectiveness.
NPD: Entitlement; defectiveness; emotional deprivation; insufficient self-control; unrelenting standards.
OCPD: Unrelenting standards; punitiveness; emotional inhibition.
PPD: Abuse/mistrust; defectiveness.
STPD: Alienation; abandonment; dependence; vulnerability to harm.
SZPD: Social isolation; emotional deprivation; defectiveness; subjugation; undeveloped self.
Optimal diagnostic criterion
One key criterion for each personality disorder, based on its ability to summarise all criteria for that PD, accurate description of behaviour, and the predictive value (ability to predict if the person has the PD or not).
ASPD: Aggressive, impulsive, irresponsible behavior.
AVPD: Avoids activities that involve being social out of fear of criticism, disapproval, or rejection.
BPD: Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment.
DPD: Needs other people to be responsible for most major parts of their lives.
HPD: Uncomfortable not being the centre of attention.
NPD: Grandiose sense of self-importance.
OCPD: Perfectionism that interferes with life.
PPD: Paranoia, without evidence, that others are trying to harm, exploit or deceive them.
STPD: Thinking, speech, behavior, or appearance that is odd, eccentric, or peculiar.
SZPD: Doesn’t want or enjoy close relationships.
- From Sperry, Handbook of Diagnosis and Treatment of DSM-5 Personality Disorders (2016)
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