Dependent personality disorder, makes it difficult for someone to live independently

As social beings, humans need other people to interact and help each other in times of difficulty. But if you are too spoiled to really be unable to live independently because you have to always depend on other people, and feel helplessly anxious when there is no one else to ask for help, this could be a sign that you have a dependent personality disorder.

What is dependent personality disorder?

Basically, personality disorder is a type of mental health disorder that affects the way a person thinks and behaves. Dependent personality disorder is defined as someone who has excessive and unreasonable anxiety, which causes him to feel he cannot do things alone. People with dependent personality disorder always feel the need to be cared for and feel very anxious when abandoned or separated from someone who they consider important in their life.

A person with dependent personality disorder often looks passive and does not believe in his or her abilities. This has an impact on their ability to live life, especially in socializing and working. A person with this personality disorder is also more at risk of developing depression, phobias, and misbehaving to abuse drugs. In addition, there is also the possibility that they will become involved in an unhealthy relationship if they depend on the wrong person, or even experience violence from their dominant partner.

What causes a person to have a dependent personality?

It is not known what is the main reason why someone becomes so dependent on others. However, experts argue that this is influenced by the patient's biopsychosocial condition. Personality is formed from how the person's social interactions in the family and friendships during his childhood, while psychological factors are related to how a social environment, especially family, forms a person's mindset in dealing with a problem. However, genetics also more or less influence a person's tendency to have a dependent personality, because genetics also has a role in shaping a person's personality.

In addition, several types of experiences can also increase a person's risk of experiencing dependent personality disorder, including:

• Trauma from someone's abandonment
• Experiencing acts of violence
• Been in an abusive relationship for a long time
• Childhood trauma
• Authoritarian parenting style

What are the signs and symptoms of dependent personality disorder?

Signs of dependent personality disorder will tend to be difficult to recognize if the sufferer is still in children or adolescents. A person can be said to experience dependent personality disorder when he has an over-dependence on others when he enters early adulthood. At that age phase, a person's personality and mindset tends to settle down with less change.

Here are some common signs if someone has a dependent personality disorder:

• Difficulty making decisions in everyday matters - they also tend to ask for advice and feel the need for someone to reassure the choices they make
• It's hard to show disagreement - because they are anxious about losing the help and recognition of others
• Lack of initiative - always waiting for other people to ask him to do something and feel uncomfortable doing something voluntarily
• Feel uncomfortable when alone - has an abnormal fear that she won't be able to do something on her own. Loneliness can also make sufferers feel nervous, anxious, feel helpless and trigger it panic attack .
• It's hard to start a job on your own - more likely to be due to insecurity in his abilities than to laziness and lack of motivation
• Always looking for bonds with other people - especially when breaking out of a relationship, because of the view that a relationship is a source of attention and assistance.

Like other personality disorders, dependent personality disorder tends to be difficult to recognize and requires psychologists and psychiatrists to recognize it. Most sufferers will not seek therapy for their problems, unless something happens that causes them to feel very stressed due to the disturbance they have.

Can dependent personality disorder be eliminated?

Dependent personality disorder tends to persist for a long time but may decrease in intensity with age. Therapy in overcoming dependent personality disorder tends not to use drugs but through psychotherapy with talk therapy methods. The main goal of this therapy is to foster self-confidence to socialize and help sufferers understand their condition. Usually talk therapy is done in the short term, because if it is done in the long term, the patient is also at risk of experiencing dependence on the therapist.

In addition, to prevent dependent personality disorder from being passed on to children, avoid authoritarian parenting and build a family environment that encourages children's interpersonal and social skills.