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For many, personality disorders and addiction often go hand in hand. A personality disorder is a type of mental disorder that causes a person to have rigid and unhealthy patterns of thinking, functioning, and behaving. Often, men with personality disorders can have difficulty perceiving and relating to situations and people – and this causes significant stress on relationships, social activities, work, and school. In addition, men with personality disorders often suffer from depression and anxiety, which can lead to self-medicating and the eventual abuse of alcohol and drugs. In fact, substance use disorder is diagnosed in roughly half of individuals with personality disorder.

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While the exact cause of personality disorders is unknown, both family history and life events and relationships play a role. For example, people with a history of abuse, trauma, neglect, or being bullied have an increased risk of having a personality disorder.

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While these mental disorders affect both males and females, some personality disorders are more common in men. For instance, nearly 90 percent of antisocial personality disorder diagnoses are among men.

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Personality disorders are often grouped into three clusters – Cluster A, Cluster B, and Cluster C – according to similar symptoms and characteristics. Since some of the symptoms overlap, it’s pretty common for people with one type of personality disorder to have signs of at least one other personality disorder.

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The most common disorders include:

• Antisocial personality disorder

• Avoidant personality disorder

• Borderline personality disorder

• Dependent personality disorder

• Histrionic personality disorder

• Narcissistic personality disorder

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder

• Paranoid personality disorder

• Schizoid personality disorder

• Schizotypal personality disorder

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The main goals of psychotherapy for treating personality disorders include:

• Reducing immediate distress, such as anxiety and depression.

• Helping the person understand that their problems are internal and not caused by other people or situations.

• Decreasing unhealthy and socially undesirable behavior.

• Modifying the personality traits that are causing difficulties.

• Helping the client return to work, school, and functional relationships. 

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