Trauma manifests in our lives through many complicated ways. As an attempt to cope with the complicated reality of trauma, our brains become more complicated. No two people will experience the exact same trauma in the exact same way or develop the exact same manifestations of trauma in the exact same way. While some people will survive trauma practically unscathed, others will survive trauma deeply affected, which can include the development of a personality disorder.
A personality disorder can be defined as “a deeply ingrained and maladaptive pattern of behavior of a specified kind, typically manifest by the time one reaches adolescence and causing long-term difficulties in personal relationships or in functioning in society.” Personality disorders tend to develop in our childhood and become a full part of our lives by adolescence and adulthood. It isn’t to say that personality disorders become integrated, but it does feel like they become part of our lives. Unfortunately, personality disorders can come with problematic behaviors which get in the way of our ability to live a healthy, thriving lifestyle. However, despite the challenges a personality disorder can create, people do live with them in a high functioning way.
Living a high functioning lifestyle with any kind of a mental health issue is a double edged sword. On the one hand, you are able to maintain all the surface level responsibilities necessary to be a functioning member of society. You may even have successful, healthy relationships. Underneath the surface, however, there is still a tremendous amount of unresolved pain which will one day need to be confronted. Repeated experience has shown that in one way or another, at one time or another, mental health needs present themselves in a way which cannot be ignored for the sake of a high functioning lifestyle. Most often, high functioning turns into dysfunction due to an untreated personality disorder.
In our next Q&A we’ll look at the signs of a high functioning personality disorder.
Learning to be is part of the process of trauma recovery. Stop the cycle of merry-go-round treatment and find the solution you’re looking for in trauma treatment. Through effective residential treatment, Khiron House helps you find the path you need toward health and wellness in recovery. For information, call us today. UK: 020 3811 2575 (24 hours). USA: (866) 801 6184 (24 hours).
