In the mental health community, there are several personality disorders that share features and symptoms. That is why they are clustered, or grouped, into the same diagnostic bunch. The designation for this shared group of disorders discussed below is called Cluster B.
What are the Cluster B personality disorders?
The Cluster B disorders are the emotional, dramatic and erratic behavior. The Cluster B disorders share issues with emotion regulation and impulse control. The distinctive features of these personality disorders are “dramatic, over-emotional or unpredictable (erratic) thinking or behavior,” according to a VeryWell.com article. The four disorders in the Cluster B group are: Antisocial, Borderline, Narcissistic and Histrionic. Antisocial Personality Disorder Those with ASPD, have a complete disregard for others and lack empathy. Because of their disregard for others, these disordered individuals often lie, steal and cheat to get what they want. According to the Mayo Clinic, those with ASPD are often referred to as sociopaths, as they show no regard for what is right and wrong, in addition to antagonizing and manipulating others. Because of their disregard for others, they also often can’t satisfy responsibilities related to family, work or school. That makes total sense to me because my NX can never finish what he starts when it comes to going back to school. Several years ago, he was in the military and wanted to be a flight nurse. Failed that. Then, it was wanting to get a degree in biomedical engineering. That didn’t work out either. Then, on a whim, he wanted to be an operator on an oil rig. Then, he wanted to be a wind turbine technician. And now, his latest endeavor is wanting to get a degree in marketing and web development to go for medical marketing (to which he is doing full time and is not working). Borderline Personality Disorder Many years ago when I spent six days in the mental health ward of the hospital on the military post, I was falsely diagnosed with BPD. This is the diagnosis that my NX holds steadfast to and uses to continually call me crazy. BPD is characterized by difficulties in interpersonal relationships, emotions, behaviors and ways of thinking. Those with this disorder are often involved in relationships that are intense and quite volatile. One of the defining characteristics of BPD is a fear of abandonment. This would explain why my NX would frequently hoover me when I tried to leave the relationship. Disordered individuals despise being dumped. BPD is the most widely studied personality disorder and I feel that is why many health professionals are quick to diagnosis individuals with this disorder. Many times, like with me, it is a false diagnosis. The mental health professionals see some characteristics of BPD in someone, like the intense mood swings, and rush to judgment. The doctor who diagnosed me refused to listen to me about WHY I had the intense mood swings! It wasn’t because I had BPD. It was because I was being emotionally abused. One thing that popped out at me regarding BPD is this following quote by MentalHelp.net: “They can frequently change careers, relationships, life goals, or residences. Quite often these radical changes occur without any warning or advance preparation.”
Why did it pop out to me? For the same reason I mentioned above. My NX has changed his mind about “what he wants to be when he grows up” so often that it left me wondering if there was really something wrong with him. Reading that quote makes a lot of sense! It explains why he often changed his mind about returning to school for whatever degree.
Histrionic Personality Disorder Have you ever called anyone a “drama queen”? HPD is characterized by those whose lives are consistently full of drama because of being drawn to the need for attention. HPD individuals often dress provocatively and engage in seductive behavior. My NX has a desperate need to be the center of attention and freaks out when he is not. So when the attention is diverted away from him, he would frequently become quite theatrical to regain the attention of those he is with. This was very evident during my daughter’s first birthday party. The attention, of course, was on her since she was the birthday girl. But true to a disordered person’s fashion, he somehow made the party all about him and thus, only me and one other person actually sung happy birthday to my daughter. Of course, my NX was livid that I sung the song without him. (Well, had he been paying attention, he would have known!) Narcissistic Personality Disorder And of course, there is NPD. Those with NPD are characterized as having a high opinion of themselves, requiring special attention, feeling like they must hob-nob with others in high places, and entitled to all the attention and adulation. As I discussed in my post Why Narcissists Claim To Be So Accomplished, Narcissists are prone to presenting themselves to all those they meet as a polished individual who has it all together. They embellish their achievements, claim that they have accolades that they never received, and they pad their resumes to make themselves look better. Bottom line Dealing with those who are disorder individuals is a monumental task, at best. They will leave you feeling unwanted, unloved, underappreciated, and unworthy. They will cause you to lose your sense of self and your confidence. It is a big risk confronting someone with a personality disorder because they will assume the defensive position and claim you are blowing their symptoms out of proportion and simply deny any such symptoms anyway. They will even use projection and say YOU are the one with the disorder. Have you dealt with someone with a Cluster B disorder? Comment below. And as always, I appreciate you for sharing your stories with me.
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Greetings, my warrior survivor friends! Welcome to my blog. I'm Julianna Jen, the owner and creator of this site. Check out the My Story section to read about why I started this blog. Thanks for stopping in. And feel free to comment on any post, share your own thoughts and stories. I would love to hear from you! Archives
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