Emotional and Impulsive: That's Cluster B Personality Disorder

What are Cluster B Personality Disorders?

In our last post, we talked about Cluster A Personality Disorders. Today, we’ll be talking about Cluster B Personality Disorders. While Cluster A is characterised by odd and unusual thinking and behaviour, Cluster B is characterised by unpredictable, striking and highly emotional thinking and behaviour (Mayoclinic, n.d.). There are four personality disorders under Cluster B: Antisocial, Borderline, Histrionic and Narcissistic Personality Disorders.

Antisocial Personality Disorder

As the name suggests, ‘antisocial’ refers to behaviours that are detrimental to society. Some symptoms of antisocial personality disorder include (Mayoclinic, 2016):

• Compulsive lying, stealing and using fake identities to cheat others

• Dismissing the needs or feelings of others

• Continued violation of the rights of others

• Impulsive behaviour

• Recurring run-ins with the law

• Lack of guilt for misbehaviour

Borderline Personality Disorder

Borderline refers to a ‘poor or unstable sense of self’ that contributes to negative and irresponsible behaviour (Todd, 2018). Some symptoms of borderline personality disorder include (Mayoclinic, 2016):

• Engaging in risky and impulsive behaviours like unsafe sex, gambling or binge-eating

• Unstable and intense relationships

• Bipolar mood swings, often due to interpersonal stress

• Consistent feelings of loneliness

• Consistent anger issues

• Suicidal or self-harming behaviours

Histrionic Personality Disorder

The word histrionic suggests “dramatic or theatrical” (WebMD,n.d.). For people with histrionic personality disorder, their self-esteem is very fragile and highly dependent on the approval of others (WebMD, n.d.). To get people to notice them, they will engage in dramatic and inappropriate behaviour to feel a distorted sense of self-worth. Some symptoms of histrionic personality disorder include (Mayoclinic, 2016):

• Consistent, attention-seeking behaviour

• Easily swayed by others

• Appearing shallow and excessive concern with physical appearance

• Extremely emotional, sexually provocative or dramatic to garner attention

• Talks dramatically with strong opinions, but unable to support his or his points with concrete evidence

• Perceive they are closer to people around them that they really are

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Ever heard about Narcissus? The word ‘Narcissistic’ came from Greek folklore, which tells a story of a handsome young man named Narcissus who fell in love with his reflection after seeing it in a pool of water (WebMD, n.d.). People with narcissistic personality disorders are not just in love with themselves; they are self-absorbed and ignore the feelings or ideas of others. Some symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder include (Mayoclinic, 2016):

• Fantasise about attractiveness, power and success

• Exaggerating talents and achievements

• Belief that you are above others

• Consistent anticipation of praise and admiration from others

• Extremely high standards towards extending advantages and favours, and frequently take advantage of others

• Arrogance

Summary

Hopefully, you have a better idea of what Cluster B Personality Disorders entails! To find out available treatments and how you can help someone with a Cluster B personality disorder, click here.

Here’s a video that summarises Cluster B Personality Disorders perfectly. Check it out! If you have anything to share with us, please do! We would love to hear from you.

For a list of helplines, click here.

In the next post, which comes out this Saturday, Cluster C Personality Disorders will be discussed.

References

Mayoclinic (2016, September 23). Personality disorders [Information on a webpage]. Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/personality-disorders/symptoms-causes/syc-20354463

Osmosis (2019, February 04). Cluster B personality disorders (antisocial, borderline, histrionic, narcissistic) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/n1a7o44WxNo

Todd C.L. (2018, December 05). 13 Facts Everyone Should Know About Borderline Personality Disorder [Information on a webpage]. Retrieved from https://www.self.com/story/borderline-personality-disorder-facts

WebMD (n.d.). Histrionic Personality Disorder [Information on a webpage]. Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/histrionic-personality-disorder#1