People with personality disorders can exhibit a spectrum of behaviors. If you or someone you love has a personality disorder, you wonder, “Are personality disorders genetic?” After all, you would want to know if the illness can pass from one generation to the next. Genetics plays a role in personality disorders, but there are a myriad of other factors too.
What are Personality Disorders?
A personality disorder is a mental illness with a rigid pattern of thinking, functioning, and behaving. People with personality disorders have difficulty perceiving and relating to situations and people. This difficulty can cause issues in their everyday lives.
There are many types of personality disorders. They usually appear in the teenage years or early adulthood.
Mental health professionals place personality disorders in three categories:
- Cluster A. People with eccentric thinking or behavior that causes them significant distress.
- Cluster B. These people are overly dramatic and can be unpredictable. They have extreme emotional reactions to events.
- Cluster C. Anxious, fearful thinking or behavior are common for those in this group.
Common personality disorders include:
- Paranoid Personality Disorder. This disorder involves feeling like others are trying to harm or deceive you. It also includes avoiding people out of fear and thinking comments are negative towards you. Additionally, it involves holding onto grudges.
- Antisocial Personality Disorder. People with this disorder may not have regard for how their actions affect others. Symptoms include lying, stealing, violence, and lack of regret.
- Borderline Personality Disorder BPD and Substance Abuse. Those with this disorder suffer from being impulsive in relationships and dramatic emotional swings.
- Histrionic Personality Disorder. People with this disorder also have drastic mood swings. And they’re uncomfortable when they aren’t the center of attention.
- Narcissistic Personality Disorder. These people lack empathy for those around them. They need admiration, feel entitled, and can’t admit when they’re wrong.
- Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder. These people have extreme distractions with orderliness and control.
These personality disorders are just some possible diagnoses. Personality disorders are among the most common severe mental health conditions. They often happen alongside other mental illnesses, like substance use disorders, mood disorders, and common anxiety disorders. Experts estimate that 10-15% of the world’s population is borderline personality disorder genetic.
Are Personality Disorders Genetic?
The question, “Are personality disorders genetic?” is not an easy question to answer. Unfortunately, experts don’t know what exactly causes personality disorders. But mental health experts think genetic influences are part of the equation. Research suggests a combination of genetics and environmental factors cause a person to develop personality disorders.
Your parents may pass down your temperament. Genetics of personality disorders may make you vulnerable to developing a personality disorder. Your upbringing and life experiences can also play an important role in your development.
Risk factors for personality disorders include:
- Family history of personality disorders or other mental illness
- Trauma, abuse, or an unstable childhood
- Childhood conduct disorder diagnosis
- Variations in brain chemistry and structure
How ILC Can Help
Personality disorder diagnosis requires you to meet a specific set of criteria. It might take several sessions of assessment with a trained mental health professional. But people with personality disorders can live a fulfilling life, in part by learning to cope with the symptoms.
Evidence-based treatments for personality disorders include:
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy. This therapy teaches you skills, like conflict management and mindfulness, that help decrease personality disorder symptoms.
- Cognitive Behavior Therapy. This treatment helps you learn how to restructure your negative beliefs and thoughts. It also helps you with emotional regulation and modifying negative behaviors.
- Group Therapy. Group therapy provides a safe space for people with similar mental health disorders and therapists to come together. Groups can help you feel less isolated and alone with your condition.
- Medication. Psychiatric medications can help you ease personality disorder symptoms. Mental health professionals prescribe mood stabilizers, antidepressants, antipsychotics, and anti-anxiety medications for personality disorders.
It’s essential to find a coping strategy that works for you. Integrative Life Center offers mental health support and therapies to help you develop coping strategies.
Contact ILC today to start on your journey to a healthier, happier you.
