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How are personality disorders treated.


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Psychotherapy is the mainstay of treatment for personality disorders

Therapy aims at understanding, evaluating and reorganizing one’s view of the world. In the process of doing behaviors that tend to perpetuate distressing states will be addressed. At the end of therapy you should ideally feel in more control of your life when compared to your start point. This may take several weeks or months, with multiple ups and down. Stick with it and you will see progress.

There are several modes of therapy that have proven efficacy in personality disorders. Most of these therapies focus on engaging the sufferer to gain some control over their behavior. Underlying motivations are unwound slowly. Evidence based therapies include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical behavioral therapy and meta cognitive behavioral therapy. Psychoanalytical therapies such as mentalization based therapy is also effective in several personality disorders. Mindfulness based therapy is gaining acceptance among therapists and sufferers alike.

The core to success in any therapy is the therapist – client relationship. This relationship is the foundation on which any improvement will be built. Your responsibility would be to be open in approaching treatment, the onus is on the therapist to structure treatment in such a way that you do not feel judged or controlled.

Medication can help

Our thoughts, actions and emotions arise from our brain. Medication can help the brain function better in several circumstances. Millions of scientific studies have proven the efficacy of medication for anxiety, depression and several other mental illnesses. Please have a discussion with your doctor about the need for medications, make sure all your questions are answered before you start.

It is of prime importance that you seek help. It is of utmost importance that you are nice to yourself even if things don’t go well to start with. It is important that you put in your best effort in beating this. If you do succeed in beating this (even if you give it a shot) , it will be one of the most empowering things that you have ever done. All the very best.

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