Personality Disorder

A personality disorder is a mental health condition where people have a lifelong pattern of seeing themselves and reacting to others in ways that cause problems. People with personality disorders often have a hard time understanding emotions and tolerating distress. And they act impulsively. To be classified as a personality disorder, one's way of thinking, feeling and behaving deviates from the expectations of the culture, causes distress or problems functioning, and lasts over time. The pattern of experience and behavior usually begins by late adolescence or early adulthood and causes distress or problems in functioning. Without treatment, personality disorders can be long-lasting.

How do we help

Certain types of psychotherapy have shown to be effective for treating personality disorders. During psychotherapy, we help the patient can gain insight and knowledge about their disorder, what is contributing to symptoms, and get to talk about thoughts, feelings and behaviours. It can help you understand the effects of their behaviour may be having on others and learn to manage or cope with symptoms and to reduce behaviours causing problems with functioning and relationships. The type of treatment will depend on the specific personality disorder, how severe it is, and the individual’s circumstances. Commonly used types of psychotherapy include Psychoanalytic/psychodynamic/ transference-focused therapy/DBT/CBT. We also help the patients by providing selfcare tools and coping strategies. We help them express their emotions and also try relaxation and stress management techniques through guided meditation, breathing exercises and visualizations techniques. Learning about their condition can help empower and motivate. We also encourage them to stay connected with family and friends to avoid becoming isolated.