science

Self-defeating personality disorder

Self-defeating personality disorder is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Self-defeating personality disorder rather than just read about it. In short: Self-defeating personality disorder (SDPD), formerly known as masochistic personality disorder, was a proposed personality disorder. As a descriptor for "Other personality disorder" it was included in the DSM-III in 1980.

Key takeaways

Self-defeating personality disorder belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Self-defeating personality disorder to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Self-defeating personality disorder from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Self-defeating personality disorder (SDPD), formerly known as masochistic personality disorder, was a proposed personality disorder. As a descriptor for "Other personality disorder" it was included in the DSM-III in 1980. It was discussed in an appendix of the DSM-III-R in 1987, but was never formally admitted into the manual. The distinction was not seen as clinically valuable because of its significant overlap with other personality disorders (borderline, avoidant and dependent). Both the DSM-III and DSM-III-R separated the condition from sexual masochism. It was entirely excluded from the DSM-IV. Since the DSM-5, the diagnoses other specified / unspecified personality disorder have mostly replaced its use.

Diagnosis

Definition proposed in DSM III-R for further review Self-defeating personality disorder is:

A) A pervasive pattern of self-defeating behavior, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts. The person may often avoid or undermine pleasurable experiences, be drawn to situations or relationships in which they will suffer, and prevent others from helping them, as indicated by at least five of the following: chooses people and situations that lead to disappointment, failure, or mistreatment even when better options are clearly available rejects or renders ineffective the attempts of others to help them following positive personal events (e.g., new achievement), responds with depression, guilt, or a behavior that produces pain (e.g., an accident) incites angry or rejecting responses from others and then feels hurt, defeated, or humiliated (e.g., makes fun of spouse in public, provoking an angry retort, then feels devastated) rejects opportunities for pleasure, or is reluctant to acknowledge enjoying themselves (despite having adequate social skills and the capacity for pleasure) fails to accomplish tasks crucial to their personal objectives despite having demonstrated ability to do so (e.g., helps fellow students write papers, but is unable to write their own) is uninterested in or rejects people who consistently treat them well engages in excessive self-sacrifice that is unsolicited by the intended recipients of the sacrifice B) The behaviors in A do not occur exclusively in response to, or in anticipation of, being physically, sexually, or psychologically abused. C) The behaviors in A do not occur only when the person is depressed.

AMPD The alternative DSM-5 model for personality disorders does not include SDPD; however, it can be diagnosed as Personality Disorder–Trait Specified.

Millon's subtypes Theodore Millon has proposed four subtypes of masochist. Any individual masochist may fit into none, one or more of the following subtypes:

History Originally proposed as Masochistic Personality Disorder, the proposal was characterized by maladaptive focus on negative features and circumstances, as well as remaining in an exploitative or abusive relationship despite opportunities to alter the situation. Controversy arose due to the perceived mischaracterization of traumatic responses to imprisonment and domestic violence as a pathological disorder. The behavior of intimate partner violence victims has been found to be warped by the circumstances of basic survival they find themselves in, causing seemingly unreasonable behavior that does not address a long-term effort towards escape, caused by a reduction or lack of long-term thinking in the victim. Through the outcry of women's groups, the diagnosis was modified to self-defeating personality disorder, the criteria of diagnosis modified to exclude abuse, and added to an appendix of the DSM-III. It was excluded from the DSM-IV and further editions. Self-defeating personality disorder has been considered to have significant overlap with several other personality disorders since the time of its proposal, and the disorder has been found to lack the reasons for an additional diagnosis. The concept of self-hatred as a psychological construct, building from multiple disorders including the ideas of self-defeating personality disorder, has been explored as "Malignant Self Regard".

See also Sadistic personality disorder Self-handicapping Self-preservation Setting up to fail Autosadism Algolagnia Learned helplessness

Notes

References

External links https://www.scribd.com/doc/55533833/The-Riddle-of-Masochism

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Self-defeating personality disorder

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Self-defeating personality disorder claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Self-defeating personality disorder before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Self-defeating personality disorder ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Self-defeating personality disorder

In research: Self-defeating personality disorder appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Self-defeating personality disorder in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Self-defeating personality disorder is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Obsolete terms for mental disorders, Personality disorders, Psychopathological syndromes, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Self-defeating personality disorder outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Self-defeating personality disorder in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Self-defeating personality disorder means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Self-defeating personality disorder out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Self-defeating personality disorder in simple terms?

Why does Self-defeating personality disorder matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Self-defeating personality disorder?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Self-defeating personality disorder.