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Behavioral or Personality

Overview

People classified as having these disorders have mental functioning that interferes with their ability to maintain a temperament and personality that dispoase an individual to act in certain ways, including those characteristics that make the individual distinct from others.

Behavioral disorders vary from mental disorders in ways that are important for DV/SA providers to understand. A better understanding of the characteristics of different conditions can help to build appropriate members and supports within a DV/SA coalition. People exhibiting the characteristics of personality disorders are:

• Less likely to be diagnosed and treated
• Less likely to be eligible for public mental health services funded by the state
• Less likely to be able to benefit from medication
• More likely to be young since the conditions tend to diminish with age

Women diagnosed with personality disorders may be more likely to experience sexual violence. For example, a 2000 study reported that 40-71% of women diagnosed with "borderline personality disorder" reported having been sexually abused. ¹

Many women with the charcateristics of behavioral disorders, with or without a diagnosis, will not be eligible for any publicly funded mental health services except for emergency or "acute" services. That means that a visit to the emergency room or an acute inpatient admission will be available but it is much harder to access on-going community support services. Those will include case management and housing services as well as some outpatient services. Referral for a woman who does not have private insurance can be difficult.

These conditions can cause extreme distress and suffering for the individual and present tough challenges for the DV/SA provider. The challenge is partly because of the interpersonal nature of these disorders and partly because it may be difficult to find good support services to which to refer a woman with a behavior or "personality" disorder. 

What is a Behavioral or Personality Disorder?

Those who struggle with a personality disorder have great difficulty dealing with other people. They tend to be inflexible, rigid, and unable to respond to the changes and demands of life. Although they feel that their behavior patterns are "normal" or "right," people with personality disorders tend to have a narrow view of the world and find it difficult to participate in social activities.

Recognizing a Behavioral or Personality Disorder

A personality disorder must fulfill several criteria. A deeply ingrained, inflexible pattern of relating, perceiving, and thinking serious enough to cause distress or impaired functioning is a personality disorder. Personality disorders are usually recognizable by adolescence or earlier, continue throughout adulthood, and become less obvious throughout middle age.

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