Personality Disorders 2025
Personality - answer How we perceive and interact with the world
traits - answer Stylistic peculiarities that all people bring to social relationships
shyness
seductiveness
rigidity
suspiciousness
passive aggressive behaviors - answer examples of personality traits
blaming - answer Genuinely unaware that their personality traits are causing the
problems
Difficulty accurately perceiving and interpreting the world around them
Difficulty with impulse control
Inappropriate emotional responses
Blaming - answer personality disorder traits
Ineffective coping - answerCrisis, high levels of anxiety - nursing diagnosis
Risk for other-directed violence, Ineffective coping, Impaired parenting, Disabled family
coping - answerAnger and aggression; child, elder, or spouse abuse - nursing diagnosis
Social isolation - answerWithdrawal - nursing diagnosis
Fear
Disturbed: sensory perception, thought processes, coping - answerParanoia - nursing
diagnosis
Hopelessness, Risk for suicide, Self-mutilation, Chronic low self-esteem, Spiritual
distress - answerDepression - nursing diagnosis
Ineffective coping, Impaired social interaction, Interrupted family processes, Risk for
loneliness - answerDifficulty in relationships, manipulation - nursing diagnosis
Ineffective therapeutic regimen management
Noncompliance - answerFailure to keep medical appointments, late arrival for
appointments, failure to follow prescribed medical procedure or medication regimen
- nursing diagnosis
- Patient's problems can overwhelm health care professionals.
,- Intense feelings evoked in a nurse often mirror the feelings of a patient:
For example, a patient might tell a nurse, "You're inadequate and incompetent!"
- Health care professionals may feel confused, helpless, angry, and frustrated.
- Patients are abusive of authority and successful in splitting staff in an attempt to
defend against the patient's own feelings of frustration and powerlessness.
- When staff members are split, the result is conflict.
- Untrained staff members may become vengeful in response to a sense of entitlement,
manipulation, dependency, ingratitude, impulsivity, and rage.
- Nurses and other health care professionals should practice self-health management,
which includes acknowledging and accepting their own emotional responses.
- Health care professionals should ensure personal well-being. - answerIdentify some
disconcerting feelings health care professionals experience when working with
individuals with personality disorders.
- Have frequent communications among staff members.
- Set limits on patient behavior.
- All staff should consistently enforce limits. - answerDiscuss how you would use
teamwork and collaboration when working with a patient who is extremely manipulative.
Psychotherapy - answerthe treatment of mental disorder by psychological rather than
medical means
Psychodynamic psychotherapy - answeris a form of depth psychology, the primary
focus of which is to reveal the unconscious content of a client's psyche in an effort to
alleviate psychic tension. In this way, it is similar to psychoanalysis.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy - answerIs a form of CBT developed initially for individuals
with eating disorders but now used with a range of problems including anxiety,
depression, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) and anger problems.
Dialectical behavior therapy - answerprovides clients with new skills to manage painful
emotions and decrease conflict in relationships
Medications are not available for the treatment of PDs per se.
Treating the *symptoms* is helpful.
, *Benzodiazepines* (maintenance dosing) for anxiety are not appropriate because of the
*potential for abuse* and overdose; they may be used in *emergency situations*
Medications with low toxicity are appropriate. - answerpharmacologic therapies of PDs
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) - answertreat co-morbid depression and
panic attacks
Trazodone and venlafaxine - answerhave low toxicity in overdose
Carbamazepine - answertargets impulsivity and self-harm
Lithium, anticonvulsants, SSRIs - answerminimize aggression
Atypical antipsychotics - answerhelp with psychotic features in BPD under stress
d. Introduce yourself, and let Gale know that you will be her nurse during your shift.
This response communicates caring and professionalism to Gale and possibly opens
further channels of communication. - answerGale's medical history (from previous
admissions) indicates diagnosis of depressive disorder and BPD. Based on these
diagnoses, which of the following will be your best initial intervention as you begin your
shift?
a. Allow Gale to act out her frustrations since she is newly admitted.
b. Immediately set strict limits so that Gale knows who is in control.
c. Instruct a mental health technician to monitor Gale on a
15-minute basis.
d. Introduce yourself, and let Gale know that you will be her nurse during your shift.
a. "You seem concerned about how you are being treated here on this unit."
This response gives the patient an opportunity to respond and communicates that you
are listening. - answerGale tells another nurse on the unit, "You are the only decent
person here. You really care, and my nurse is really cold." This nurse is new to the unit
and does not know how to answer. What would be your best response to Gale if you
were in this position?
a. "You seem concerned about how you are being treated here on this unit."
b. "You have just not learned to trust people; your nurse is a good person."
c. "Your personality disorder is causing you to be angry and distrustful."
d. "You need to understand that all the staff here are very caring."
A. "I can promote my client's sense of control by establishing a schedule." - answerA
nurse manager is discussing the care of a client who has a personality disorder with a
Personality - answer How we perceive and interact with the world
traits - answer Stylistic peculiarities that all people bring to social relationships
shyness
seductiveness
rigidity
suspiciousness
passive aggressive behaviors - answer examples of personality traits
blaming - answer Genuinely unaware that their personality traits are causing the
problems
Difficulty accurately perceiving and interpreting the world around them
Difficulty with impulse control
Inappropriate emotional responses
Blaming - answer personality disorder traits
Ineffective coping - answerCrisis, high levels of anxiety - nursing diagnosis
Risk for other-directed violence, Ineffective coping, Impaired parenting, Disabled family
coping - answerAnger and aggression; child, elder, or spouse abuse - nursing diagnosis
Social isolation - answerWithdrawal - nursing diagnosis
Fear
Disturbed: sensory perception, thought processes, coping - answerParanoia - nursing
diagnosis
Hopelessness, Risk for suicide, Self-mutilation, Chronic low self-esteem, Spiritual
distress - answerDepression - nursing diagnosis
Ineffective coping, Impaired social interaction, Interrupted family processes, Risk for
loneliness - answerDifficulty in relationships, manipulation - nursing diagnosis
Ineffective therapeutic regimen management
Noncompliance - answerFailure to keep medical appointments, late arrival for
appointments, failure to follow prescribed medical procedure or medication regimen
- nursing diagnosis
- Patient's problems can overwhelm health care professionals.
,- Intense feelings evoked in a nurse often mirror the feelings of a patient:
For example, a patient might tell a nurse, "You're inadequate and incompetent!"
- Health care professionals may feel confused, helpless, angry, and frustrated.
- Patients are abusive of authority and successful in splitting staff in an attempt to
defend against the patient's own feelings of frustration and powerlessness.
- When staff members are split, the result is conflict.
- Untrained staff members may become vengeful in response to a sense of entitlement,
manipulation, dependency, ingratitude, impulsivity, and rage.
- Nurses and other health care professionals should practice self-health management,
which includes acknowledging and accepting their own emotional responses.
- Health care professionals should ensure personal well-being. - answerIdentify some
disconcerting feelings health care professionals experience when working with
individuals with personality disorders.
- Have frequent communications among staff members.
- Set limits on patient behavior.
- All staff should consistently enforce limits. - answerDiscuss how you would use
teamwork and collaboration when working with a patient who is extremely manipulative.
Psychotherapy - answerthe treatment of mental disorder by psychological rather than
medical means
Psychodynamic psychotherapy - answeris a form of depth psychology, the primary
focus of which is to reveal the unconscious content of a client's psyche in an effort to
alleviate psychic tension. In this way, it is similar to psychoanalysis.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy - answerIs a form of CBT developed initially for individuals
with eating disorders but now used with a range of problems including anxiety,
depression, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) and anger problems.
Dialectical behavior therapy - answerprovides clients with new skills to manage painful
emotions and decrease conflict in relationships
Medications are not available for the treatment of PDs per se.
Treating the *symptoms* is helpful.
, *Benzodiazepines* (maintenance dosing) for anxiety are not appropriate because of the
*potential for abuse* and overdose; they may be used in *emergency situations*
Medications with low toxicity are appropriate. - answerpharmacologic therapies of PDs
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) - answertreat co-morbid depression and
panic attacks
Trazodone and venlafaxine - answerhave low toxicity in overdose
Carbamazepine - answertargets impulsivity and self-harm
Lithium, anticonvulsants, SSRIs - answerminimize aggression
Atypical antipsychotics - answerhelp with psychotic features in BPD under stress
d. Introduce yourself, and let Gale know that you will be her nurse during your shift.
This response communicates caring and professionalism to Gale and possibly opens
further channels of communication. - answerGale's medical history (from previous
admissions) indicates diagnosis of depressive disorder and BPD. Based on these
diagnoses, which of the following will be your best initial intervention as you begin your
shift?
a. Allow Gale to act out her frustrations since she is newly admitted.
b. Immediately set strict limits so that Gale knows who is in control.
c. Instruct a mental health technician to monitor Gale on a
15-minute basis.
d. Introduce yourself, and let Gale know that you will be her nurse during your shift.
a. "You seem concerned about how you are being treated here on this unit."
This response gives the patient an opportunity to respond and communicates that you
are listening. - answerGale tells another nurse on the unit, "You are the only decent
person here. You really care, and my nurse is really cold." This nurse is new to the unit
and does not know how to answer. What would be your best response to Gale if you
were in this position?
a. "You seem concerned about how you are being treated here on this unit."
b. "You have just not learned to trust people; your nurse is a good person."
c. "Your personality disorder is causing you to be angry and distrustful."
d. "You need to understand that all the staff here are very caring."
A. "I can promote my client's sense of control by establishing a schedule." - answerA
nurse manager is discussing the care of a client who has a personality disorder with a
