PERSONALITY OR DISORDER? PERSONALITY DISORDERS

psikolojiozel10-1-25kapak

Understanding Paranoid Personality Disorder According to Psychodynamic Theory

Pervin TUNÇa
aİstinye University Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Psychology, İstanbul, Türkiye

Tunç P. Understanding paranoid personality disorder according to psychodynamic theory. Tunç P, ed. Personality or Disorder? Personality Disorders. 1st ed. Ankara: Türkiye Klinikleri; 2025. p.1-9.

ABSTRACT
Paranoid Personality Disorder (PPD) is a chronic psychological problem characterized by excessive suspiciousness and vigilance, cognitive rigidity, grandiosity, negative affect, aggression, hostile tendencies, and expectations of being harmed. Individuals with this disorder experience conflicts in socialrelationships due to hoarding of injustices, lack of humor, distrust, pathological jealousy, and obsessive justice-seeking behaviors. Diagnosis of this disorderis often besetwith confusion due to its apparent similarities with other psychopathologies. The disorder has been neglected by scientific research due to the afflicted individuals’ reluctance to seek treatment and negative clinical treatment outcomes. Historically, the psychodynamic approach has played an important role in understanding personality disorders. In PPD cases, promising explanatory approaches have been developed, and clinical observations made through psychodynamic concepts. A growing number of clinical studies show that psychodynamic therapy is also effective in the diagnosis and treatment of personality disorders. This review aims to provide an update on examining the underlying psychodynamic factors (id, drive, ego, superego, evolution reality, self, defense mechanisms, and object relations) rather than merely classifying the symptoms of PPD.

Keywords: Paranoid personality disorder; psychodynamic theory

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