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 signs of dependent personality disorder?
The dependent personality disorder patient will see themselves as incapable of making decisions or doing anything independently in their lives on their own. And if a patient with dependent personality disorder is forced to do it, they will see themselves as doing a bad job of it. So it can get as ridiculous as patients with dependent personality disorder needing help deciding what to wear in the morning. Patients with dependent personality disorder just absolutely have no confidence in themselves. Patients with dependent personality disorder will endure unpleasant, unsavoury things to keep the dependee happy. So the patient with dependent personality disorder will see movies they don't want to see; they'll eat food they hate. They will do almost anything to make sure that the person they're dependent on stays with them. And you'll see a lot of anxious, frantic behaviour if they think that for whatever reason, the person they're dependent on is going to leave.
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 are the treatments for dependent personality disorder?
There aren't any known treatments that consistently work for the disorder itself. I think some psychotherapy can be very helpful in terms of helping the patient develop self-confidence. It may be that, during the course of psychotherapy, the person transfers their dependence from the dependee to the therapist, which would have its own risks. As a therapist, however, you would be invested in having the person slowly break away from you, whereas the dependee may not have that same investment. Since these patients are prone to anxiety and mood disorders, it is appropriate that they be treated for these on a separate level.
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.
