A Personality Disorder Screening Test is designed to diagnose personality disorders in the patient, if any. All the people who feel like that the world is overwhelming sometimes or that you get more nervous about the little things that don’t seem to matter to anyone else or that the whole world is planning something against you then you should visit your nearest psychiatrist and psychologist soon. You may have an underlying and undiagnosed personality disorder. Personality disorders may lead to a disruption in your day to day life if it is not treated soon.
Personality disorders are a psychological problem and they should be treated as soon as possible so that the affected person does not get used to this behaviour and the disorder becomes a personality trait. In this article, you will be able to check the details of the most common personality disorder screening tools, how to take the tests at home and when to visit your psychiatrist.
Personality Disorder Screening Test
The Personality Disorder Screening Tests are designed in a way so that the exact disorder of the patient can be diagnosed. The psychiatrist will then plan the treatment protocol of the patient according to results of the screening tests so that the patient can receive disorder specific treatment curated according to their needs. The patients should follow the treatment plan diligently in order to cure their disorders so that their relationships and work are not affected by the disorders.
The Personality Disorder Screening Test will also tell about the severity of the disorder so that the patient can know about his condition and know about his behaviour patterns. The patients of Personality Disorders do not need hospitalisation but they may need hospitalisation in extreme cases where they may cause harm to themselves or to the society. Thus these disorders should be treated immediately so that the patient does not cause any harm to anyone.
Personality Disorder Screening Tools
There are many Personality Disorder Screening Tools available today for all general use and clinical use so that the general public can use them regularly to check up on their mental health. Some of the most important Personality Disorder Screening Tools are given below.
- Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-II- It is a self report measure consisting of 567 true or false questions in a questionnaire form. It does not consist of personality dimensions but it describes different aspects of the personality, symptoms and relationships of the person.
- Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III- It is also a self report measure which contains 175 true and false items for the diagnosis of various conditions such as anxiety, alcohol dependency and post traumatic stress disorder. It usually takes about 25 minutes.
- International Personality Disorder Examination (IPDE)- It is a type of Interview developed by the WHO. The questions are divided into 6 sections- work, relationships, impulse control, self, affects and reality testing. This test is designed to tell whether the person has a personality disorder or not and also provides a dimensional score on each personality disorder.
- NEO Five-Factor Inventory- This test is based on the five factors of personality- neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness and conscientiousness. In this model, the personality disorder can be interpreted as maladaptive personality disorder. The test does not offer any insights into why the patient behaves the way that he does. The test is a 5 to 10 minute checklist which the patient checks by himself.
- Personality Assessment Schedule- This test is another trait based assessment tool which inspects 24 personality traits. It also uses information from a collateral source for the diagnosis. This test is found to be more reliable and valid.
Classification of Personality Disorder Severity
The Personality Disorders occur in different severities in different persons. All the persons tend to have different personality traits which may seem as abnormal behaviour by some. Thus it is very important for the therapist to make an accurate diagnosis so that the patient’s time is not wasted. You can check out the different levels of severities of Personality Disorders in the table given below.
| Level | Diagnosis | Characteristics |
| Level 0 | No Personality Abnormality | No Personality Abnormality |
| Level 1 | Personality Difficulty | Having Three Diagnostic Criteria For Paranoid, Schizoid, Histrionic, Anankastic and/or Anxious Personality Disorder And Two Criteria For Dissocial, Impulsive and/or Borderline Personality Disorder |
| Level 2 | Simple Personality Disorder | A Single Personality Disorder or More Than One Personality Disorders Within The Same Cluster. |
| Level 3 | Complex Personality Disorder | More Than Two Personality Disorders From Different Clusters |
| Level 4 | Severe Personality Disorder | Two or More Personality Disorders From Different Clusters Which Cause Societal Disturbances |
Factors Affecting Personality Disorder Screening
Many factors lead to the development of the person and their personality. Some of the factors can promote abnormal and harmful behaviour in persons which form the basis of personality disorders. Some of the important factors for the development of personality disorders are given below.
- Demographic factors- The conditions and the location in which the person lives determines a lot about their personality and their defence mechanisms.
- Current social situation- The social situation and the current relationships of the person affect his personality significantly. Toxic situations lead to the development of personality disorders.
- Psychosocial stressors- A person who is surrounded by psychosocial stressors such as work stress, relationship problems and family problems is more likely to develop abnormal personality behaviours.
- Previous history of violence and self-harm- A person who has a history of self harm and violence against himself and others is more susceptible to develop personality disorders.
- Previous response to treatment/supervision- If a person has a history of personality disorders then his response to the previous treatments is also crucial for examination and is a significant factor in the development of further symptoms.
- Level of social support- How much support and close friends a person has become essential for their mental health. A person who has someone to share their inner feelings with is less likely to feel lonely and thus develop a personality disorder.
- Anger- People who get angry over minor issues and indulge in physical fights tend to develop severe personality disorders and they can even hurt others in their anger. After their outburst, they tend to be filled with regret and guilt which worsens their mental state.
- Substance misuse- A history of Substance misuse is also responsible for the development of personality issues and destructive behaviours.
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FAQs Related To Personality Disorder Screening Test
You should visit your nearest Psychiatrist and Psychologist in order to take a personality test. The tests available online are not reliable tools and their results should not be trusted.
The Personality Disorder Screening Tests are tests designed to check and evaluate various personality traits of a person and check whether they have abnormal behaviours or not.