Persona
Personality is the make-up of an individual in totality.
What we are, how we think, behave, walk, talk, act, react to situations;
everything is specific to our own constitution. That is why every individual is
different from the other, yet most people usually manage to adjust to, and
accept the personality traits of most others. However some behavior
characteristics are difficult to adjust to and seem outside of the normal
acceptable range. Although all ‘abnormal’ traits do seem to be exaggeration of
the mannerisms we see in normal people; they evidently stand out of the range
of regularity. These deviations constitute personality disorders.
Personality traits
Personality traits can include ambitiousness, assertiveness,
conventionality, dutifulness, hostility, moodiness, orderliness, sincerity,
sociability, excitement, shyness, aggression etc. These are characteristics
that differentiate people from one another. People think, feel, behave
according to the way they have witnessed events in childhood (observational learning)
the incidents they have been through (experiential learning) or simply the way
they were trained to (conditioned responses). Everyone copes with stress using
individual defenses. That is what makes one’s personality different from that
of the other. Understanding personalities is a step towards accepting people
for who they are.
Personality disorders
Sometimes the way people deal with situations is not conventional.
It seems to deviate out of the normal curve. Everyone can get anxious once in a
while, however persistent preoccupation and restlessness leading to evasion of
responsibility points to an anxious personality disorder. Or responding with
self-preservation and forever belittlement of the world is indicative of
narcissistic personality disorder. Some of the well-understood personality
disorders include anxious, avoidant, dependent, antisocial, histrionic,
schizoid, passive aggressive, narcissistic, and obsessive-compulsive types. They
are classified into clusters depending upon the characteristic patterns.
Cluster A personalities are ‘odd and eccentric’, cluster B are ‘attention
seeking’ and cluster C are depicted as ‘anxious and avoidant’ types. People
with these have dysfunctional ways of looking at the world and doing things.
Impact of personality disorders
These disorders are deeply engrained, inflexible, appear in
all situations, and are enduring. People who have these are not as troubled by
their problem as they trouble others around them. A person with obsessive-compulsive
personality traits is preoccupied with detail and gets everyone stressed with
excessive planning and detailing; but the final event eventually turns out
haphazard since execution just never occurred. Likewise, passive aggressive
personalities keep complaining about personal misfortunes and the good
providence of others around them, but will never accept a helping hand owing to
extreme passivity. Friends and relatives of such people are worst impacted.
Origin of problems
Personality disorders have their roots in childhood and are
very smooth and gradual in their progression. They can be attributed to certain
neurotransmitter alterations in the brain, coupled with environmental factors
that contribute. Sometimes brain infections, head injury, or stroke may lead to
change in the brain chemicals and may cause personality change too.
Solving the problem
Personality change requires great effort from the individual,
family members and the therapist. There are different therapies tailored for specific personality symptoms; which along
with medication in select cases; help overcome dysfunctional personality traits
and enhance the quality of life. Building relationships and enhancing one’s
emotional quotient is the stepping-stone for self-betterment and growth.
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