Obviously I’ve nearly fried my brain studying for Finals the past few days…
Hey there! I’d like to introduce you to my new friend group, called the PDs!
They’re a pretty motley crew, and boy do they have some issues going on amongst the nine of them.
As with any clique, there are a few little groups within the PDs. They like to call themselves the A-Team, B-Team, and C-Team.
In the A-Team, we have
Paranoid Pete,
who doesn't trust anybody. He's always suspicious of his friends
whenever things happen to him that he can't explain, and feels as though
all of them are deceiving him. Even though he's a part of the group,
he's very reluctant to tell anything personal or divulge any secrets,
and doubts his friends' loyalty. Even when it's his fault that something
went wrong, he suspects and blames the other members of the PDs.
There's also
Schizoid Scott,
who is one pretty lonely fellow. Scott doesn’t say much, doesn’t much
care for anyone else in the PDs, and is pretty detached from the group.
He rarely goes out with them, and doesn’t care that most of the others
in the group aren’t inviting him to things anymore. He’d rather sit at
home and read or go on walks by himself deep in the woods, even though
none of the activities he does bring him much pleasure.
Scott’s closest “friend” in the group, although they rarely talk, is
Schizotypal Scooter.
Scott doesn’t mind Scooter because she has a lot of social deficits and
doesn’t quite fit in with the group because of her odd speech and
behavior. She also has some very strange thoughts, suspicious beliefs,
and tends to react to situations abnormally, like when she couldn’t stop
laughing at their teacher’s funeral. Scooter’s psychologist thinks she
may develop schizophrenia within the next few years.
The B-Team makes up the leaders of the PDs. They are the biggest personalities, and there are the most of them as well.
Antisocial Alec
is undoubtedly a leader based out of fear, because he is a deviant boy
who doesn’t care about the rights of others and frequently does
impulsive thing without remorse or guilt. His parents are even
frightened of Alec and are disappointed by his responsibility and
multiple run-ins with the local authorities. Once, he even tried to set
fire to the school; yet the teachers and everyone who meets him tend to
like Alec because of his initially charming attitude.
Borderline Bob has a very
dramatic outlook on things, and has difficulties relating with the
others in the group. He tends to see people and situations as either
very good or very bad, with little leeway in between. Not to mention,
his views can change rapidly, so many of the group members have been
looked up to one day and then trashed the next by Bob. He is also quite
depressed, and everyone in the PDs pretends to ignore the scars running
down his arms and legs, just as they never brought it up when the police
had to be called during a sleepover because Bob had swallowed a bottle
of pills. Luckily, he lived, and now faces an intense fear of
separation, but gets really pissed as soon as he is reunited with
whoever he lost.
Another member of the B-Team is
Histrionic Helen.
She and Bob have a lot in common, but Helen has much better
relationships than Bob. She is the attention-seeker of the group, who
always wants to be noticed and gets frustrated if the attention is not
on her. Because of this, she exaggerates aspects of her personality,
including her emotions, which tend to be very shallow. Helen has been
known to feign illness before and stay home from school just because her
mother wasn’t paying enough attention to her.
Rounding out the B-team is
Narcissistic Nathan,
and between he and Helen there is enough self-importance for the entire
group! Nathan often fights Helen for the admiration of the PDs, and
will exaggerate his own importance to do so. He frequently sidles up to
one group member or another whenever he needs them for his own benefit,
uses them, and then moves on to the next person who can help him achieve
his goals. When someone says that they don’t like him, he doesn’t
understand the concept because he expects to be liked by everyone.
Next up, meet the C-team, arguably the most sensitive and commonly used members of the group.
Avoidant Amy
is insanely aware of what others think of her, and often times this
leaves her feeling inadequate and anxious. Whenever somebody says
something not kind about Amy, she can cry for hours on end, even if it
is as simple as a comment about how her shoes don’t match her outfit.
the other PDs think she may have Social Phobia because of how much
inhibition she displays even among their friend group.
Another PD is
Dependent Dori, who
is rarely seen without her boyfriend Dane. She barely knows what to do
when he’s not there, and always needs others to help her make decisions
and take care of her. Even though she is a smart girl, Dori doubts her
intelligence and abilities and often has others help her with homework
and projects, relying on their knowledge. Although she is intensely
afraid of being separated from Dane, he is a very abusive boyfriend who
tends to take advantage of her and occasionally hit her when he’s
annoyed. Yet she can’t be without him and clings to his verbally and
physically abusive presence in her life regardless.
The last member of the PDs I’d like you to meet is
Obsessive-Compulsive Olivia.
Olivia is quite the perfectionist who is preoccupied by details and
almost always acts as the planner and organizer of the group. She
doesn’t like letting go of control, and can be very stubborn and
unwilling to change once she has something set in her mind. She gets
often caught up in the rules and fine print of everything, and can be a
workaholic when it comes to her job and school, making it hard for her
to make time to spend with her other PD friends.
There they are, the whole PD gang! Now let’s hope that they
help me remember my Personality Disorders on tomorrow’s Abnormal
Psychology final…
- Cluster A Disorders: Schizoid, Schizotypal
- Cluster B Disorders: Antisocial, Borderline, Histrionic, Narcissistic
- Cluster C Disorders: Avoidant, Dependent, Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD)
Yes, I’ve reached that point…but my tip for Finals week is to find a way that helps YOU remember, in a way that works for YOU! That
may or may not involve making up fictitious characters and creating a
storyline for your Abnormal Psych disorders, but there’s a method for
everyone…you’ve just gotta find it! :)
***BEST OF LUCK TO EVERYONE ON FINALS!***
Why: Because classical music helps me focus!
