Personality Disorder Diagnosis (Essay Sample)

Personality Disorder Diagnosis
Name
Institution
Personality Disorder Diagnosis
Diagnosis for Anne Vignette
Qualls & Anderson (2009) assert that there has been an accentuated abandonment of the oldest members of the family despite the fact that family connection and contact are imperative features in older persons. In America, there is an expectation that the families should provide care and support to the older adults. However, for Anne’s case, the family is not available to offer the necessary support. Additionally, adult families that are experiencing difficulties in the decision-making process can seek therapy services (Qualls & Anderson, 2009). These services help the families to determine when they can step in to assist in decisions and how far they should stretch. In essence, family relationships can be harmful or helpful to care recipients and caregivers. Hence, the clinicians and the other family members should think in a family way to help those that are in difficult situations. For instance, the quality and style of family functioning affect the primary caregiver’s well-being and the care receiver’s outcome. It is vital to delivering family therapy to the affected family. In perspective, family therapy studies and intervenes in the family relationships that exist among the families in the attempt to shift the dynamics and structures of the family in providing novel strategies to ensure support of the member’s developmental needs. In fact, family members’ behaviors influence other family members. Hence, it is vital to use the family therapy in addressing the issues facing Anne.
Contribution of age, gender, ethnicity, and relationship dynamics
Age
Dementia is a mental condition that develops with old age. In fact, it causes patients to experience disruptions in eating, sleep, and social activities. Further, there are symptoms of anxiety, fatigue, depression, health deterioration, and loss of confidence in oneself (Qualls & Anderson, 2009). When this happens, there is accentuated family strife and increased conflicts between the workplace, family members and providing care. As depicted, Anne is 47 years old and might be having early onset of dementia.
Gender
According to Skodol & Bender (2003), there is a predominant diagnosis of DSM-IV-TR in females than males. Precisely, there are three women in every four persons diagnosed with the disorder. Therefore, the situation might explain the case of Anne. For instance, BPD is among the three DSM-IV-TR PDs that are often diagnosed in women. Because of this situation, Anne might be facing such disorders and thus need care and support.
Ethnicity
Culture has a core factor in a person’s mental health and the development of psychological disorders. As Rivas (2001) notes, numerous writers expressed a dire need for culture and ethnicity during the classification of the mental disorders. However, some of the researchers underscored the pertinent nature recognizing the impact of ethnicity on the personality disorders. In essence, Anne might be facing challenges due to the diversity in concepts of the communication style, self, and the copying mechanisms.
Relationship dynamics
A history of sexual and physical abuse contributes to increased problems in mental health. Nehls & Sallmann (2005) contend that a study conducted on 1,600 adults having serious mental illnesses indicated that one-third of the correspondents never knew that they were dealing with patients who were early abused either sexually or physically. Further, demonstrations hold that in the case of sexual abuse, the presence of substance abuse and mental health problems are never addressed. Indeed, it might hold true that Anne faced either sexual or physical abuse leading to her current situation.
Impact of PD on neurocognitive functioning
Problems of personality disorders bolster problems in cognitive aspects and often enhance deleterious effects on an individual. For instance, when patients face dysfunction and metacognition schemas, they might not be in a position to understand their states of mind and even describe their emotions. When this happens, the patients have negative impacts on their relationships. In such situations, patients with PD may fail to perceive effects leading to impossibilities in making sense of the social situations (Dimaggio & Norcross, 2008). Therefore, relationships get impaired and a consequential decline in healthy family support. In a situation where the patients suffer severe metacognition, he or she fails to interpret the social conditions ...