Phone: 605-431-8595, Location: 6613 Eastridge Road, Black Hawk, SD 57718
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Personality Disorders

Issues

What are personality disorders?

Essentially, they are a group of disorders involving personality traits that are not flexible. This inflexibility can cause distress and make it difficult for the person to function.

What to look for…

Diagnosis usually occurs during adolescence or early adulthood. The common personality disorders are:

  • Paranoid – exhibiting or characterized by extreme fear distrust of others.
  • Schizoid – relating to, or having personality marked by extreme shyness, reclusiveness, and an inability to form close relationships.
  • Histrionic – being excessively dramatic or emotional.
  • Narcissistic – having excessive love or admiration of oneself.
  • Antisocial – showing a pattern of disregard for and a violation of others.
  • Borderline – a condition characterized by a pattern of instability in mood, interpersonal relations, and self-image. Manifested by self-destructive, manipulative, and inconsistent behavior.
  • Avoidant – exhibiting a pervasive pattern of social inhibition with feelings of inadequacy and hypersensitivity to negative evaluation. This limits ability to live a normal life.

 

What can you do?

Recommended treatment varies from illness to illness, however, in all cases it is critical to seek evaluation from a qualified mental health professional. Structured interventions, case management services, and sometimes medication are necessary in treatment of these disorders.

about us

About

Diana Smith, PhD, LPC-MH owns and operates Serenity Mental Health Services and is licensed by the National Board of Certified Counselors. License number is LPC-MH2025 and she follows the ethical guidelines described by the NBCC found at their web site www.nbcc.org/webethics2. Diana is a member of the National Board for Certified Counselors, Certification Number 43911. In addition, she is also a member of the American Counseling Association, Member ID# 5140627. Online counseling can help you right now. Research has made it clear that this manner of offering therapy is effective and those who’ve experienced it have said they would seek it out again.

Dr. Diana is an APA (American Psychological Association) EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) approved Therapist in Training.