Treatment of Personality Disorders Debate
Lisa Bennett, Samantha Craig, Suzie Gassabian, Tonya Higuera & George A. Jarrett
PSY/410
07/04/2016
Instructor Marie Cesar, PhD, LMHC, CAP
Treatment of Personality Disorders Debate
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has promising results, but success stories are unique and dependent on the individual's effort, commitment and engagement with the therapy. Individual's seeking cognitive behavioral therapy suffer from mental disorders such as personality disorders, eating and sleep disorders, substance abuse and anxiety. Cognitive-behavioral therapy attempts to modify a person's self-statements and construal of events in order to change his or her behavior (Butcher, Hooley, Mineka, 2014). This therapy examines recent issues related to their disorder and a specific circumstance causing this concern. Therapy alone is insufficient in this kind of disorder and medication is necessary. The medication prescribed is an antidepressant to prevent relapse and associated side effects. While antidepressants are instrumental to individuals with personality disorders, it does have negative side effects such as abnormal behavior, heavy mood swings and even suicide. We will explore both sides of the antidepressants associated to the disorders in this debate.
Support of the Treatment
There can be a variety of reasons why an individual will seek treatment. Reasons being to reduce temporary stressors, long-standing problems, or chronic and debilitating problems. Individuals with personality disorders that James N. Butcher (2014), states to be "Two of the general features that characterize most personality disorders are chronic interpersonal difficulties and problems with one's identity or sense of self" (p. 328). One specific personality disorder is borderline personality disorder (BPD). The patterns associated with this disorder are emotional dysregulation, impulsivity, unstable self-image, unstable interpersonal relationships, and rapid shifts in moods, suicide attempts, self-injury, and flagrantly manipulative (James N. Butcher, 2014).
Effective treatments that are showing positive results that decrease some of the symptoms for those that have a diagnosis of BPD, is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). According to James N. Butcher (2014), "The two main themes are important: (1) the conviction that cognitive processes influence emotion, motivation, and behavior; and (2) the use of cognitive and behavior-change techniques in a pragmatic (hypothesis-testing) manner" (p.559). One specific and modified form of cognitive behavioral therapy is, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). This form of DBT that according to the National Institute of Mental Health (n.d), "It is now used to treat people with borderline personality disorder" (para. 8). Individuals that have BPD are more prone to suicidal thinking and actions.
The DBT therapist focuses on boundaries, the value of desired behaviors, ways to reduce disruptive behavior, regulate emotions, learn new coping skills, how take more personal responsibility, mindfulness, and more positive methods of thinking. DBT is done in an individual setting where the individual learns new skills, then is able to proactive in a group setting, and shares their new skills. According to National Institute of Mental Health (n.d), "Research suggest that DBT is an effective treatment for people with BPD. A recent NIMH funded study found that DBT reduced suicide attempts by half compared to other types of treatment for patients with BPD" (para. 9). Furthermore, according to The Linehan Institute BehaviroalTech (n.d.), "Research has shown DBT to be effective in reducing suicidal behavior, non-suicidal self-injury, psychiatric hospitalization, treatment dropout, substance abuse, anger, and depression and improving social and global functioning" (para.18).
When it comes to personality disorders in general such as psychopathy, obsessive compulsive, paranoid and borderline personality disorders Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a great treatment for the person seeking help because they tend to think and be somewhat extreme, inflexible, and distorted.. This particular treatment shows a great deal of effectiveness then most treatments. Individuals who seek the Cognitive-behavioral treatment can learn and provide an increase in many areas of their lives such as self-critical thinking, social perspectives and especially in the area of self-control. (Butcher, Hooley, & Mineka, 2014) However, while the individual is still in their youth the treatment may be more effective due to it not being carried on for a long time and can be "Nipped in the bud" as many refer to it. This treatment is also "helpful for people with personality disorders because of its emphasis on identifying and changing dysfunctional thinking patterns." (Hoermann, Zupanick, & Dombeck, 2013).
The reason this method is so effective is because the client and the therapist work together to first identify the thinking problems that are problematic for the individual. This is done by having them record anything troubling actions, activities and their thoughts to those events that occurred. Then afterwards they look at how the situation could have been handled differently at that time to provide later insight on how to handle a similar situation that may pop up. This helps alter how that individual perceives things as they are happening and later they end up learning to control that impulsive part to just say or do harm because they are behaving and acting in a healthier way.
Opposes of the Treatment
Conclusion
Reference:
Health, N. I. (n.d.). Transforming the understanding and treatment of mental illness. Retrieved from https://www.nimh.nih.gov
Butcher, J. N., Mineka, S., & Hooley, J. M. (2014) Abnormal Psychology (16th ed.) Boston,
MA: Pearson. Retrieved from The University of Phoenix ebook Collection Database.
Health, N. I. (n.d.). Transforming the understanding and treatment of mental illness. Retrieved from https://www.nimh.nih.gov
Hoermann, S., Zupanick, C. E., & Dombeck, M. (2013, December). Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy For Personality Disorders (CBT) . Disorders and Issues, (), . Retrieved from https://www.mentalhelp.net/articles/cognitive-behavioral-therapy-for-personality-disorders-cbt/
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