Rethinking Cluster B Personality Disorders and Abuse
There is a disconnect when it comes to psychological and emotional abuse by those with personality disorders. In the educational setting it is taught that those meeting the criteria of the Cluster B Personality Disorders in the DSM-5 are clinically abnormal and therefore have a mental illness. Those who meet the criteria after diagnostic assessment are then given the associated diagnosis. Most clinicians then tend to view these persons as disordered and perhaps somewhat due to stigma causes the idea that these people (without treatment) are powerless over their distorted thinking. This distorted thinking in turn produces abusive behaviors. Clinicians focus on therapies that are intended to change the distorted thinking in effort to stop the associated behaviors. It is known, however, that some of the Personality Disorders in Cluster B are resistant to change. Specifically, Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Antisocial Personality Disorder have been resistant to treatment (van den Bo