Types of personality disorder

This type of personality disorder is usually characterised by a difficulty in trusting others and believing they'll take advantage of you in some way. If you have paranoid personality disorder, you may interpret danger in everyday situations which other people don’t observe, and you'll always be watching other people closely in case they become hostile.

You may feel that relationships get in the way of your day-to-day life, and that other people will only cause you problems. This means you tend to have a general disinterest in forming relationships, even with other family members. It can be difficult to experience pleasure from everyday life, with little interest in emotional connection or intimacy.

This type of personality disorder is often characterised by eccentric behaviour, which can make it difficult for you to find and maintain close relationships with others. You may use words and phrases that other people find unusual, while delusional thoughts and beliefs, such as believing you have special powers, can lead to you feeling anxious or tense when others don’t share these ideas.

People with ASPD may behave dangerously and sometimes illegally, and generally act in ways that are seen as unpleasant to others. You may already have a criminal record and feel little or no sense of guilt when mistreating or upsetting other people.

Sometimes referred to as borderline personality disorder (BPD), you may find that you experience intense emotions, which can last anywhere from a few hours to several days. You might fluctuate between being extremely happy to feeling extremely low, often in the same day. You may also find it hard to maintain stable relationships, and you might experience thoughts of suicide or harming yourself.

This is a subtype of EUPD, and is different from other types of the disorder in that it's likely that you'll appear charismatic to others. People with impulsive personality disorder may feel the need to be the focus of people's attention. You may also be adventurous to the point of engaging in dangerous activity.

Similar to impulsive personality disorder, with histrionic personality disorder, you might feel uncomfortable if you aren't the focus of other people's attention at social events or in the workplace. You may have an overwhelming urge to entertain people, and can be easily emotionally influenced by other people and their opinions towards you.

If you have narcissistic personality disorder, you may appear selfish and as though you regularly put your needs above others. You might believe there are unique reasons that make you different or better than other people, although you may also have delicate self-esteem which is built upon others’ recognition of your value and attributes.

OCPD can make you feel the need to keep everything in order and be in control of your surroundings. This can lead you to have high expectations of yourself and other people in work and other ability-focused settings. You might believe that awful things will happen if something doesn’t go your way, and you may dwell on the mistakes of yourself and others.

Also known as anxious personality disorder, avoidant personality disorder often causes people to avoid situations where they have to spend a significant amount of time with others, such as at work or social gatherings. It's likely that you'll feel overly sensitive to disapproval and will constantly worry about being rejected in social settings. You may feel inferior to others, and avoid developing relationships for fear that you may be ridiculed or rejected.

This type of personality disorder causes you to be dependent on others to make decisions in your daily life. You may also let others take responsibility for you in many areas. You may have low self-confidence and appear submissive or passive to others. In work meetings, for example, you might agree to things even if you dislike a thought or opinion, so that you don’t lose the support of others.