traits and spectrum of PDs

March 9, 2012

Hi All,

I haven't posted on here for awhile due to lots of school and work

changes/craziness. But I recently came across this website " mapping " the PD's on

sort of a spectrum with their various types. Many of us on here are familiar

with those for BPD (Witch, Waif, Queen, Hermit). This site does not list those

same ones specifically, but I can see how the traits they do list would apply.

Here's the link to the site:

http://millon.net/taxonomy/summary.htm

I found the site really interesting, but also shows how complex the whole PD is!

It got me thinking to how there is so much overlap between all the PDs. Seems

there are these really similar " undercurrents " that motivate the behavior:

craving attention, not trusting people love you or will be there for you

(insecure attachment), feeling inadequate deep down... but these " undercurrents "

are played out in different ways. I realized how my BPD mother has so many

traits of Dependent PD, Narcissism, and even some Avoidant PD.

I also had the *recurrent* and scary thought that, as i've been raised by a NPD

father and BPD mother, I was taught some of these core beliefs as well. Now I'm

bugging out that maybe I have Histrionic PD? Does anyone else do this, freak out

that you might have a PD yourself? Realistically I know I don't. But I can't

deny I have low-self esteem (a core belief to all PDs), plus I love telling

stories, I exaggerate sometimes, very friendly, even charming...but I can't

tell if these traits of mine are part of my character or part of being raised by

PD parents, or some sort of combo? I know I don't truly, 100% have Histrionic or

any other PD, but I definitely see some traits on the spectrum. But after

looking at this site, I thought, maybe it's just part of being human? Maybe we

all have at least *some* PD traits? And that what differentiates having some

traits vs having a full-blown PD is that there are a lot more of the traits in

the PD, and displayed at a much higher degree?

Curious what yalls thoughts are.

-T

March 9, 2012

Interesting link. I would think that personality traits can be common in

everyone and are simply overabundant in those with the disorder, hence the

term disorder. Everyone has days where they feel sad or lonely, but to

allow that to make you despondent or a hermit is where the disorder becomes

a possibility. I'm no professional, but that's my opinion.

JW

> **

>

> Hi All,

>

> I haven't posted on here for awhile due to lots of school and work

> changes/craziness. But I recently came across this website " mapping " the

> PD's on sort of a spectrum with their various types. Many of us on here are

> familiar with those for BPD (Witch, Waif, Queen, Hermit). This site does

> not list those same ones specifically, but I can see how the traits they do

> list would apply. Here's the link to the site:

>

> http://millon.net/taxonomy/summary.htm

>

> I found the site really interesting, but also shows how complex the whole

> PD is! It got me thinking to how there is so much overlap between all the

> PDs. Seems there are these really similar " undercurrents " that motivate the

> behavior: craving attention, not trusting people love you or will be there

> for you (insecure attachment), feeling inadequate deep down... but these

> " undercurrents " are played out in different ways. I realized how my BPD

> mother has so many traits of Dependent PD, Narcissism, and even some

> Avoidant PD.

>

> I also had the *recurrent* and scary thought that, as i've been raised by

> a NPD father and BPD mother, I was taught some of these core beliefs as

> well. Now I'm bugging out that maybe I have Histrionic PD? Does anyone else

> do this, freak out that you might have a PD yourself? Realistically I know

> I don't. But I can't deny I have low-self esteem (a core belief to all

> PDs), plus I love telling stories, I exaggerate sometimes, very friendly,

> even charming...but I can't tell if these traits of mine are part of my

> character or part of being raised by PD parents, or some sort of combo? I

> know I don't truly, 100% have Histrionic or any other PD, but I definitely

> see some traits on the spectrum. But after looking at this site, I thought,

> maybe it's just part of being human? Maybe we all have at least *some* PD

> traits? And that what differentiates having some traits vs having a

> full-blown PD is that there are a lot more of the traits in the PD, and

> displayed at a much higher degree?

>

> Curious what yalls thoughts are.

>

> -T

>

--

In Victus Maneo

March 9, 2012

I think you are right, and everyone gets really sad every now and then, or

anxious or irritable or extra sensitive or lonely or frightened or really,

really angry or upset.

Everyone experiences feelings of envy or jealousy, or feelings of rejection or

inferiority from time to time. That's just part of being human. But normally

such negative feelings are not intense or extreme, don't last long, and don't

interfere (for very long) with our ability to work or make friends or be a

responsible adult person, a responsible parent or employee or boss, etc.

But if negative, counterproductive feelings become frequent and intense, if the

negative feelings never go away, and remain in place for a long time, and begin

to impact the person's ability to function adequately in everyday situations, or

begin to impact negatively on the person's relationships with other people, such

as (for example) getting fired from one job after another for being explosively

angry, then, that's something that needs looking into.

Its just like physical symptoms. An occasional bout of indigestion/stomach

pain, well, you take an alka-seltzer and that does the trick, and you make a

mental note to avoid spicy chili-dogs in the future. But if you begin to

experience bad stomach pain after each meal, and then the pain begins to

persists in-between meals, to the point where the thought of food makes you feel

sick, then that's something to go see your doctor about. The symptoms have

become frequent and intense and are interfering with your ability to eat

normally; so, time to get that checked out; time to deal with it.

So your intuition was right on the money in my opinion.

Thanks for the link about pd traits as a spectrum, I'll be interested to check

it out!

-Annie

>

> Hi All,

>

> I haven't posted on here for awhile due to lots of school and work

changes/craziness. But I recently came across this website " mapping " the PD's on

sort of a spectrum with their various types. Many of us on here are familiar

with those for BPD (Witch, Waif, Queen, Hermit). This site does not list those

same ones specifically, but I can see how the traits they do list would apply.

Here's the link to the site:

>

> http://millon.net/taxonomy/summary.htm

>

> I found the site really interesting, but also shows how complex the whole PD

is! It got me thinking to how there is so much overlap between all the PDs.

Seems there are these really similar " undercurrents " that motivate the behavior:

craving attention, not trusting people love you or will be there for you

(insecure attachment), feeling inadequate deep down... but these " undercurrents "

are played out in different ways. I realized how my BPD mother has so many

traits of Dependent PD, Narcissism, and even some Avoidant PD.

>

> I also had the *recurrent* and scary thought that, as i've been raised by a

NPD father and BPD mother, I was taught some of these core beliefs as well. Now

I'm bugging out that maybe I have Histrionic PD? Does anyone else do this, freak

out that you might have a PD yourself? Realistically I know I don't. But I can't