Dependent personality disorder used to be known as asthenic personality disorder. It is a personality disorder that presents with a psychological dependence on other individuals. There is a somewhat subjective difference between those with a dependent personality and those with dependent personality disorder. For this reason the diagnosis is often sensitive to cultural influences such as gender roles.

History of Dependent Personality Disorder

A clinical interest in dependent personality disorder started when Abraham described the oral character. As a personality disorder it first appeared in 1945 on a War Department Technical Bulletin and then in 1952 in the first edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual which later became the American Psychiatric Association. When it first appeared it was listed as a subtype of passive-aggressive personality disorder. Studies have continued to uphold the descriptive values of dependent personality traits such as submissiveness, oral character traits, oral dependence and passive dependence.

Diagnostic Criteria for Personality Disorder

Dependent personality disorder is a condition in which an individual has an excessive need for others to take care of them. This can often lead to submissive and clinging type behavior. They often have a fear of separation that typically starts in early adulthood and can be seen with a variety of signs and symptoms. A diagnostic is made if a person has five or more of the following signs and symptoms:

Cannot make everyday decisions or has a difficulty doing so without an frequent amount of advice, reassurance or support from other people.
Prefers to let other individuals take responsibility for major areas in their life.
A fear of loss of support or disapproval causes them to have difficulty in expressing their disagreement with others.
Initiating projects or doing activities is difficult by themselves because they often have a lack of self-confidence in their own judgment or abilities instead of what people think is a lack of motivation or energy.
To gain nurturance and support from other individuals they will often go to excessive lengths, sometimes even to the point of doing things that are unpleasant.
When alone they feel uncomfortable or helpless because they have exaggerated fears that they will be unable to care for themselves.
When close relationships end they will often seek out another relationship urgently to gain a source of care and support.
They are unrealistically preoccupied with the idea that they will not be able to take care of themselves.

Problems Caused by Dependent Personality Disorder

Those who have dependent personality disorder will often try hard to please others because they have a need for approval. As a result they can often get frustrated when they feel like that are being forced to do things they don't want to do or that they are not being allowed to express their feelings.

The clinging behavior also results in the loss of close relationships or at the very least they are difficult to establish and maintain. When close relationships end a person with dependent personality disorder will often feel desperate and be unable to take care of themselves. A person with dependent personality disorder often have a very low self-esteem and can be vulnerable to other mental disorders such as depression and anxiety disorders.

Goals of Dependent Personality Disorder Treatment

The goals of treating dependent personality disorder include: preventing a further deterioration of the persons mental condition, attempting to regain some form of adaptive equilibrium, alleviating any physical symptoms that may result, regaining any lost skills and starting a new improved adaptive capacity.

Treatment uses group psychotherapy to build skills for affective regulation of the condition as well as adaptive methods that will help individuals to manage their distress while improving their effectiveness in interpersonal relationships.

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