Personality traits

Someone gave me this, and it seemed interesting so I thought I'd share it here. It's from a UK organization called emergence ( emergenceplus.org.uk ) which supports people affected by or working with personality disorders, and you can find it on p. 14 of their Practitioners' Guide.

HEALTHY PERSONALITY FUNCTIONING

Anna is a teacher who regularly puts on school plays. She takes great pleasure in the childrens delight, and in the response of the audience. She enjoys the applause and the appreciation for her hard work, but is happy to step back and let the children be the stars of the show.

• Anna is unlikely to need or want help with this aspect of her life

SOME PROBLEMATIC TRAITS

Angela is a music teacher at another school, where she has a reputation for organizing outstanding concerts. The quality of the childrens work is very high, but some parents feel that she drives the children too hard to excel, often losing her temper with them if she thinks they are not working hard enough. Her friends know that if she thinks the performance is less than perfect she will be miserable for days

• Angela might benefit from some short-term counselling or self-help information to help her see that her very high standards are problematic and can make her unhappy

MANY PROBLEMATIC TRAITS

Annabel is a teacher at a third school. She is known for demanding very high standards from herself and everyone she comes into contact with, and for losing her temper very easily if she feels criticised or slighted in any way. Annabel works extremely long hours and sleeps very badly, feels very stressed and has repeatedly sought help from her GP. Her colleagues and acquaintances feel they have to tread very carefully around her so as not to spark off an outburst. Annabel feels anxious, unappreciated, and wonders why she does not have more friends.

• Annabels problems are pervasive and she might benefit from some psychological therapy to explore the range of situations that cause her difficulty

POSSIBLE PERSONALITY DISORDER

Anne-Marie has not worked for several years. She started out as an art teacher but left teaching after a number of uncontrolled outbursts at work led to her being disciplined. She could not stand having to fit in with the strict timetable and demands of the job. She tries to paint, but swings between feeling that she is an exceptional artist and that people should recognise her talent, and feeling that her work is worthless rubbish. She has had a number of intimate relationships, but she is quick to feel that she is being let down or misunderstood, and relationships tend to deteriorate into jealous arguments and physical fights. She has always cut herself when very stressed, but recently this has been getting more frequent and more severe. Her life feels empty and depressing and she holds onto the thought that, if things got desperate, she could always kill herself.

• Anne-Maries difficulties are persistent, pervasive and problematic. She may need longer term or specialist help from a personality disorder service or team.