Heather Duarte
16 hours ago
Heather Duarte
Week 11-Main Post-PDs
COLLAPSE
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For this week’s discussion post, we have been asked to pick and describe a personality disorder from the DSM-5. We have been asked to include a therapeutic approach (including medications) that may be used to treat a patient presenting with this disorder. This posting is also to include how we might share this diagnosis with or client while maintaining the therapeutic relationship. Information obtained for this discussion post will be supported by evidence-based literature.
There are several disorders listed in the DSM-5 that fall under the category of a personality disorder. For the sake of this discussion, I have chosen to further elaborate on paranoid personality disorder (PPD). According to the DSM-5, an essential feature of PPD is a “pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of others such that their motives are interpreted as malevolent” (American Psychiatric Association, 2017).
Research regarding PPD has been limited due to the low numbers of patients seeking and maintaining care for this disorder (Vyas, et al., 2017). Individuals who suffer from PPD believe that others will harm, exploit, or deceive them without evidence to support this as being true (American Psychiatric Association, 2017). For this reason, the therapeutic alliance will have a big impact on these patients and will be difficult to maintain at times due to their paranoid perceptions and lack of insight (Vyas, et al., 2017). Therapeutic approaches for patients with PPD may include cognitive behavioral therapy with a focus on the management of boundaries, therapeutic alliance, and safety for the patient as well as those close to him/her (Vyas, et al., 2017). Studies have shown that patients receiving treatment in an inpatient setting have shown higher rates of improvement over those receiving outpatient treatments (Dixon-Gordon, et al., 2011).
