Having dependent personality disorder can make life much more difficult, as the disorder impacts many areas of a person’s life. A person with dependent personality disorder (DPD) doesn’t always recognize that they are experiencing signs of this type of personality disorder, which can make it complicated to get treatment and/or accept the disorder in general.
Symptoms of Dependent Personality Disorder
Some of the most common traits of dependent personality disorder can include being needy, craving attention from others, and fearing isolation. Many of the other symptoms of DPD can also include:
- Fear of abandonment – Someone with DPD is likely to experience the fear of abandonment, which can lead to extreme depression, sadness, and desperation when relationships in their life come to an end.
- Oversensitive behavior – Because a person with DPD is always craving constant positive attention, when he is teased (whether it is harmless or not), they are likely to become extremely upset to a point where they either turn inwards or lash out.
- Inability to form their own opinion – A person with this type of personality disorder is likely to formulate their opinions around the judgment of others as a means of gaining acceptance. Therefore, they will display little to no self-confidence in their own decisions.
Between fearing abandonment, becoming oversensitive, and not forming their own opinions, people with DPD can require specialized treatment that will allow them to work past their personality disorder.
Using DBT to Treat Dependent Personality Disorder
Getting treatment to help manage the symptoms of dependent personality disorder is the best way for a person to begin improving the quality of their life. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a form of treatment that helps people to gain awareness, regulate emotions and control behaviors. Some of the other aspects of DBT that can help improve this specific disorder can include:
- Helping improve communication skills to begin healing broken relationships
- Addressing mood swings caused by DPD to encourage emotional regulation
- Help cure fears of abandonment through the teaching of proper coping skills
- Developing high self-esteem through positive activity
- Addressing negative emotions such as self-hatred to prevent relying on others for personal satisfaction
- Talking about experiences that may have triggered DPD and working through them with a professional
Getting Help
Dialectical behavior therapy is an excellent form of treatment for someone with DPD, as it focuses primarily on improving self-esteem, irregular moods, and fears. This form of behavioral therapy allows people to begin meaningful changes.