Those with Cluster A personality disorders usually display social withdrawal or awkward behaviors. Symptoms range from odd beliefs, such as the belief in aliens, to concrete thinking or paranoia. The personality disorders in Cluster A are characterized by “odd and eccentric thinking or behavior.” Paranoid personality disorder, schizoid personality disorder, and schizotypal personality disorder are the three diagnoses that compose Cluster A (APA, 2013). While each of the ten personality disorders is very different from the other, they are categorized into three groups called “Clusters.” Depending on the type of personality disorder, issues can range from paranoid thoughts, to erratic emotions, or unpredictable behaviors. There are four common enduring features associated with personality disorders: 1) distorted thinking patters 2) problematic emotional responses 3) over or under-regulated impulse control and 4) interpersonal difficulties (APA, 2013). Approximately 9% of the adult population in the United States has a personality disorder ( Lenzenweger, Lane, Loranger, & Kessler, 2007). People with personality disorders often don’t recognize the issues with their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors because their personalities seem right to them, and they instead feel that the issues lie within everyone else (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2016). An individual with a personality disorder displays one or more aspects of unhealthy and often unyielding behavior from the normal expectations of culture (APA, 2013), typically becoming symptomatic by early adulthood. There are currently 10 types of personality disorders divided into three clusters. Family history of personality and mental health issues also influence our personalities through genetics (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2016). Environmental factors like where we grow up, family and friends that surround us, and the good and bad experiences from our childhood all make up the environmental factors that shape our personalities. Personality dictates how people interact and treat themselves, others, and the world.

Thoughts, emotions, and behaviors compose each person’s personality, making each person unique.

When we think of friends and family, we might not always remember the details of their physical features, like their hair, freckles, or eyes, but instead we mostly tend to remember their personalities. By CareerSmart Learning Contributor, as published by Healthcare Hot Spot

Personality disorder clusters