SAA chapter 16

Imagine a party where all the people had personality disorders…

Donna danced into the party and immediately became the center of attention. She boasted about her career as an actress in a local theater group, making grand, sweeping gestures as she spoke. During a private conversation, a friend inquired about the rumors that she was having some difficulties in her marriage. In an outburst of anger, she denied any problems and claimed that her marriage was "as wonderful and charming as ever." Shortly thereafter, while drinking her second martini, she fainted and had to be taken home.

Winston spent most of the time talking about his trip to Europe, his new Mercedes, and his favorite French restaurants. People seemed bored being around him, but he kept right on talking. When he made a critical remark about how one of the woman was dressed – and hurt her feelings – he did not apologize for his obvious blunder. Instead, he tried to talk his way around it, and even seemed to be blaming her for being upset.

Before entering, Doreen watched the party for several minutes from outside through the window. Once she went in, she seemed very uncomfortable. When people tried to be nice to her, she looked guarded and distrustful. People quickly became uncomfortable with her habit of finding fault with everything little thing they said or did. She seemed to be picking fights with people. She didn’t stay very long at the party.

Jeff wandered into the party, but didn’t stay long. The "negative forces" in the room were unsettling to his "psychic soul-spot." The few guests he spoke to felt somewhat uneasy being with this aloof "space cadet."

For each individual described, provide a possible personality disorder diagnosis and one or two sentences explaining your rationale. Be sure to also include a statement about what you would need to know about any of these individuals before you could diagnosis them with a personality disorder.