Ep 44: The 3 Most Unstable Personalities | Schizotypal, Borderline, & Paranoid

In this episode of the Personality Couch Podcast, we (licensed clinical psychologists Doc Bok and Doc Fish) explore the 3 most unstable personality disorders: schizotypal, borderline, and paranoid. All 3 types are at risk of psychosis. We first discuss historical personality classifications of neurotic, psychotic, and borderline, highlighting that the borderline space between neurotic and psychotic is the most prone to instability. This borderline space is where schizotypal, borderline, and paranoid personalities sit. We discuss the risky traits of each personality, including cognitive slippage, emotional instability, and extreme rigidity. We also discuss some of our thoughts and experiences in diagnosing these rather tricky disorders!

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Chapters

00:00 Intro & Psychodynamic Personality Organization 02:31 Neurotic Personality Organization 04:47 Psychotic Personality Organization 05:48 Borderline Personality Organization 07:57 Schizotypal Personality & Instability 08:57 Why Personalities Are Unstable (according to Millon) 13:55 Personalities that Coexist with Schizotypal 16:30 Borderline Personality & Instability 21:16 Personalities that Coexist with Borderline 23:18 Paranoid Personality & Instability 26:52 Personalities that Coexist with Paranoid 30:18 Our Experiences with Diagnosing Unstable Personalities 33:39 Summary & Conclusion