“If I were to put it simply, a personality disorder is a mental disorder where persistent struggles with oneself and with others create problems in everyday life,” Ingeborg Ulltveit-Moe Eikenæs tells sciencenorway.no.
She is head of the National Competency Service for Personality Psychiatry (NAPP).
“It is a mental disorder where low and/or unstable self-esteem and difficulties in interpersonal relationships negatively affect quality of life and daily functioning,” she says.
Most people who develop a personality disorder do so in adolescence as a combination of genetic vulnerability and environmental stress during their upbringing. If you are more vulnerable, you tolerate negative experiences less than those with less vulnerable genes.
What you experience growing up can therefore have significant consequences because it occurs while your personality is developing. It can involve various types of neglect, abuse, or trauma.
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To receive a diagnosis, the practitioner must first exclude other disorders such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders, substance use disorders, or ADHD.
Once that is done, the assessment for personality disorder begins. The diagnosis is made through a comprehensive evaluation that typically includes an interview and questionnaire.
