Efficacy of Personality Disorder Treatments Abnormal Psychology The paper reviews literature regarding the nature of personality disorders and known treatments. The paper argues that there is no definitive cure-all for personality disorders. The paper also advocates for increased attention and research in the area of personality disorders regarding treatments and variation of treatment strategies. The paper explains the causes of personality disorders, the treatments available, the perceptions of personality disorders in

32) The overall diagnostic and symptomatic patterns described by these points indicate that BPD is a serious disorder and is "...classified as a major personality disorder involving dramatic, emotional, or erratic behavior; intense, unstable moods and relationships; chronic anger; and substance abuse." (Boucher, 1999, p. 33) There are a number of criteria which, in line with DSM-IV, are used to identify and characterize this disorder. The first of these criteria refers

People living with mental illness are often marginalized, demeaned, and seen as being outside the normal boundaries of society. For people with BPD, this is doubly painful as it reinforces their sense of worthlessness and victimization, and may even lead to suicide attempts. For those who can recognize they have BPD, yet not know how to deal with it, the social stigma may lead them to attempt to cope with

According to Philip W. Long, M.D., "During brief reactive psychoses, low doses of antipsychotic drugs may be useful, but they are usually not essential adjuncts to the treatment regimen, since such episodes are most often self-limiting and of short duration. It is, however, clear that low doses of high potency neuroleptics may be helpful for disorganized thinking and some psychotic symptoms. Depression in some cases is amenable to neuroleptics.

Mental Illness and Substance Abuse Does mental illness cause substance abuse addiction or does substance abuse addiction cause a mental illness diagnosis? Does it go both ways? A complex relationship exists between substance abuse and mental illness. Those suffering from depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses may use alcohol and drugs as self-medication. Unfortunately, though such options may appear to work temporarily, substance abuse is no treatment for any condition; in

Personality Characteristics of Sexually Abused Children Child sexual assault is a wide spread problem in today's society that presents a severe risk to the victim's mental health, both during childhood and into adulthood. For many sexually abused children, the effects continue long after the abuse has ended. Sexually abused children have been proven to develop a variety of personality characteristics, as the result of experiencing fear, hostility, guilt, shame, depression, low self-esteem,