Dependent Personality Disorder

What is "dependent personality disorder"?

The "dependent personality disorder" shares a lot of characteristics with the "avoidant personality disorder"; both make the sufferer become socially inhibited and feel rather inadequate. However, the major difference between "avoidant" and "dependent personality disorder" will be the presence of the individual on whom the dependent personality is dependent upon. This will be someone who they feel needs to assume responsibility for many of their daily activities.

What are the causes of dependent personality disorder?

There are no known causes for "dependent personality disorder", but there does appear to be an association. People who have "separation anxiety disorder" from childhood may be at higher risk to develop "dependent personality disorder". You can even sometimes detect "dependant personality disorder" in people who suffered a lot of medical illness when they were younger. This illness seems to have effected the development of fully formed self-confidence, which is required to operate independently as adults. This hasn't been proven however, it's just an associative finding.

What are the dangers of dependent personality disorder?

The biggest danger for sufferers of "dependant personality disorder" is in the social sphere. They rarely have any other friends except the person they are dependent on, and perhaps one other person. The sufferer may also be subject to "occupational dysfunction" as part of their disorder. This means that they are probably going to be more suited to a job where they are not required to have any initiative.

Who is at risk for dependent personality disorder?

"Dependant personality disorder" does appear to be more common in women than men. Other things that may put an individual at risk to develop "dependent personality disorder" would be serious illness, childhood illness, and "separation anxiety disorder", which is experienced in childhood.

What role does the "dependee" play for a person with dependent personality disorder?

Usually what you'll find is that the dependee in a dependent personality disorder situation is a person with their own issues. The dependee may enjoy the sense of power that they have over the person suffering from dependent personality disorder. The dependee may be someone with a need to care for someone else. Otherwise, if you don't have those issues, you're going to get out of that dependent relationship pretty quickly, and you're going to create a lot of anxiety for the dependent person.