Ask anything about Cluster B PDs!

it does pretty heavily depend on who you talk to and what symptoms you're displaying the most at the time. for me, I find that my symptoms tend to.....rotate, almost. like, for example, the BPD will be hella strong for a certain period of time for me, and then switch with another PD. the PDs will still be there when one is reigning supreme, but quieter. the only reason I ended up DX'ed with the ones I have is because I've been seeing my psychiatrist for a WHILE, long enough for her to identify the symptoms for all of them.

 

do you think it has anything to do with your DID? them shifting like that?

 

I don't think so? the thing is, personality disorders are based on my personality--my alters have their own personalities. and actually....some of them appear to have personality disorders I don't, or lack a personality disorder I do have. I mean, all of them would have to meet my psych for a proper diagnosis, which is so not happening, but the main seven or so who are comfy fronting on the regular have met her, and talked with her about things they experience, and....not all of them have my personality disorders. I mean, all of us have STPD, but that's because STPD isn't solely personality based, it's also on the schizophrenia spectrum and so whatever brain thing causes schizophrenia also causes STPD and SZPD and the like. we also all have psychosis, depression, and anxiety, because those are all pretty solidly brain-based, and we operate off the same brain. but we don't operate off the same personality, so not all of us have the same personality disorders--so I think them shifting is just...how my personality disorders interact. not to mention that I've heard similar experiences from others with multiple PDs, so.

 

I have a question: what's with the different cluster classifications, exactly?

 

well, each cluster is (supposedly) characterized by a certain thing. I don't really remember them, but if you're curious I can look them up?

 

mmm. found it!
cluster a: characterized by odd/eccentric thinking or behavior.
cluster b: characterized by dramatic/overly emotional behavior or unpredictable thinking/behavior.
cluster c: characterized by anxious/fearful thinking or behavior.

 

ohh okay gotcha!! sorry if i came off as offensive in any way, i was just curious if their individual personalities had anything to do with it! that's good to know though thanks

or

which is still making me laugh

 

no, you didn't, it's cool!!

and omg I totally missed that post from ASPD Anon. that's beautiful.

 

Thanks! :D

 

Ye. I got comorbid anxiety and depression and such, but not a cluster C type thing because it didn't follow certain patterns apparently and some of it could be explained by the schizotypal brand stuff. I was warned it could be comorbid with a lot of things, depending on how it presented, but because army doc we didn't go too deep before they started switching doctors on me.

 

I know them as the mad, the bad and the sad. Though I don't remember why the clusters are described that way.

 

.....at first I thought that it was 'mad' as in 'angry'
then I realized it is probably meant in the way of 'crazy'

 

Yeah. It's not really very nice, but it's a short mnemonic that helps me remember.

 

shrugs
if it works for you, that's good
honestly I feel like most mnemonics for personality disorders aren't going to be very nice or flattering, so

 

Can confirm, remember it as "weird, evil, sad". :P
Disclaimer: I probably fit into the first two clusters.

 

Well that's pleasant.

 

Definitely not fond of the mnemonics that describe B as bad or evil but hey whatever works :P I like the ones that use words starting with the same letter as the cluster

 

Spoiler: possibly upsetting jokeish bitter comment idk?

Well, Cluster B people are the worst to deal with, after all.

child abuse survivors are the worst, most annoying, also whats compassion?

 

I don't know, I'll be evilbad to people that expect me to be. They want someone to villainize, I'll provide.

 

So this is a question specifically about ASPD. I've been interested in mental illness and personality disorders for quite a long time. In the course of pursuing this I eventually managed to wrangle a copy of Mask of Sanity, which I believe is still pretty influential despite being so old that "psychopath" was the accepted term at the time.

It's been a while since I last read it, but one detail that particularly struck me had to do with humor. If I remember correctly, the author said he had never heard his "psychopathic" patients really laugh. Chuckle or snicker, sure. But I believe he said that if he were ever to hear a patient have a spontaneous, full-on fit of laughter, he would be forced to question the diagnosis.

Any thoughts on this? If you have ASPD, would you say it's accurate? If so, any ideas about why?