Emerging Personality Disorder – management and treatment applying Dialectical Behavioral Therapy: a case study

ABSTRACT

It is of essential importance to identify clinical conditions of childhood and adolescence that present a high risk to evolve any kind of Personality Disorder. Personality disorder does not suddenly come out at age eighteen years old. Early sighs of some pathological behaviour that evolves before 19 years predict long term deficits in functioning and a higher chance is there these patients continue to present some symptoms up to 20 years. Some childhood and early adulthood predictive factors are responsible for excellent recovery of Personality disorder. Unfortunately, PD diagnosis and treatments both gets delayed. Adolescence represents a sensitive and vulnerable phase for the development of any kind of Personality Disorder. There is a dearth of information about emerging personality development in childhood and in adolescence. The present study attempts to explore the role of Dialectical Behavioural Therapy in the management of a 14 years old Female, Hindu, Bengali speaking, Unmarried, hailing from an urban neutral family with a diagnosis of emerged personality disorder with prominent features of impulsivity, interpersonal relationship problems, self-harm behaviours, anger outbursts. Thus the aim of the present study is to reduce these behaviours which is having an impact in her life and improving overall well-being of the individual. She was treated with DBT approach, bringing in improvement after 14 sessions.. The execution of DBT for suicidal adolescent has been presented by a case study.