What is a personality disorder?

People with personality disorders have long-standing (over many years) and problematic patterns of behavior and ways of perceiving and misperceiving the world and those in it. The personality disorders are grouped into three categories and include such conditions as:

• Antisocial personality disorder—no sense of empathy and a blatant disregard for the rights of others.
• Borderline personality disorder—women and men who become emotionally triggered or dysregulated quite readily, often resulting in self-injurious behaviors (cutting, burning) and frequent thoughts of suicide. People with borderline personality disorder may describe their emotions as going from zero to a thousand in the blink of an eye.
• Narcissistic personality disorder—an inflated sense of self importance, but not rising to the level of grandiose delusions.
• Paranoid personality disorder—people who misperceive the intentions of others and are highly suspicious but not to the level of becoming delusional.