Lesson 4: Personality Disorders

Description

Faith was a 32 year-old single woman on welfare. She sought treatment because she felt “spacey” and because her feelings of “disconnection” had become stronger and more unpleasant. She stated that she felt as if she were watching herself move through life – that the world seemed unreal and that she felt very disconnected when looking into a mirror. Faith also communicated that she could read other people’s minds. Many of her family, she noted, also had this ability. She believed that she had a special mission in life although she was not able to state what it was.

Faith was also self-conscious in public, noting that people often paid special attention to her – sometimes crossing the street to avoid her. Faith complained of being lonely. She had no friends and spent much of her day watching television or daydreaming.

Although Faith was not incoherent, she often missed the focal point of conversation and she, in turn, spoke in a vague and abstract manner. She was afraid of people criticizing her and was shy and mistrustful. Although she had held jobs in the past, Faith did not keep them for long because she always lost interest in the work and stopped appearing for work. Faith did not have hallucinations and was never treated for mental illness in her past.