What Is Dependent Personality Disorder?
Dependent personality disorder leaves a person unable to be on their own. The condition sits in the anxious category, and people who have it feel a near-constant pull toward others for reassurance, comfort, advice, and support. Plenty of us want those things. The difference is that when someone with this disorder goes without them, daily functioning starts to break down. Being by themselves brings on anxiety. Symptoms usually surface somewhere in early or middle adulthood. A personal development plan, built alongside whatever treatment a provider recommends, gives a way to work through the specific areas that cause trouble, and your clinician can help shape that plan around your own circumstances.
The disorder belongs to Cluster C, one of the three groupings used for personality disorders, and that cluster is defined by nervous, anxious patterns of behavior. Someone living with it may show a mix of signs: a steady need for reassurance, feelings of nervousness and isolation when alone, leaning on others to make decisions rather than deciding for themselves, and being wounded easily by any hint of disapproval.
Why the disorder develops is still an open question, and researchers are working on it. The current thinking points to a blend of developmental and biological factors. One example that comes up often: growing up with an overprotective parent may set the stage for the condition emerging later in adulthood. For now, much of the attention goes toward pinning down risk factors, on the idea that steering clear of them could lower the odds of someone developing the disorder.
Diagnosis tends to begin by ruling out a physical cause for the symptoms. That step usually involves going over your medical history and checking any medications you happen to be taking. Once a physical illness has been ruled out, your doctor refers you to a mental health specialist. At that appointment the provider goes through your symptoms, asks about your life and your childhood, and tries to establish when the symptoms first appeared and whether any particular event lined up with their start.
Treatment frequently opens with medication aimed at the anxiety. A combination of anti-anxiety and antidepressant drugs is common. For people whose disorder brings on panic attacks, a doctor may add something that eases acute episodes. Take these exactly as prescribed, and give them time; the full effect can take several weeks to show up.
Talk therapy is another standard part of treatment. It helps you understand the condition better, and it works on practical skills: building healthier relationships, becoming more assertive, raising your self-esteem. This is generally long-term work, and how often you go depends on how severe your symptoms are.
For this disorder, a personal development plan does well to center on self-esteem and on easing anxiety. Adding something that targets stress is useful too, since the condition can feed directly into it. A plan like this stays very much within reach even with the disorder, and it can double as a way to gauge whether your treatment is actually working. Keep your doctor in the loop about what the plan contains, so he or she can confirm it is helping and that it supports your treatment instead of getting in the way of it.
References: http://www.healthline.com/health/dependent-personality-disorder#Overview1 and https://sites.google.com/site/hookappsychology1b/personality-disorders/dependent-personality-disorder