Why not pick up a copy of the DSM?

-ECV

Here is a little further information about this disorder.

For a start, it is not a mental illness like schizophrenia or
manic-depressive psychosis or even depression or anxiety. These are
referred as Axis 1 disorders, while Personality disorders are designated
as Axis 2.

A personality disorder is defined in DSM -IV as:

A. "An enduring pattern of inner experience and behaviour that deviates
markedly from the expectations of the individual's culture. This pattern
is manifested in two (or more) of the following areas:
        1. cognition (ways of preceiving and interpreting self, other people or
events).
        2. affectivity (the range, intensity, lability and appropriateness of
emotional response).
        3. Interpersonal functioning
        4. impulse control.

B. The enduring pattern is inflexible and pervasive across arange of
personal and social situations.

C. The enduring pattern leads to clinically significant distress or
impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of
functioning.

Looking specifically at Dependent Personality Disorder, it is defined
as:

A pervasive and excessive need to be taken care of that leads to
{*filter*} and clinging behaiour and fears of seperation, beginning by
early {*filter*}hood and present in a variety of contexts and indicated by 5
(or more) of the following.

        1. has difficulty making decisions without an excessive amount of
advice and reassurance from others.

        2. needs others to assume responsibility for most major areas of his or
her life.

        3. has difficulty expressing disagreements with others because of fear
of loss of support or approval. (does not include realistic fears of
retribution)

        4. has difficulty initiating projects or doing things on his or her own
(because of lack of self-confidence in judgement or abilities rather
than lack of motivation or energy).

        5. goes to excessive lengths to obtain nurturance and support from
others. to the point of volunteering things that are unpleasant. [this
is what you describe in your question]

        6. feels uncomfortable or helpless when alone because of exaggerated
fears of of being unable to care for oneself.

        7. urgently seeks another relationship as a source of care  and support
when a close relationship ends.

        8. is unrealistically preoccupied with fears of being left to take care
of oneself.

These features may help you to pad out the character a little more.

--

(Axis II = mental retardation and personality disorders, Axis I = everything
else)

-elizabeth

One should be wary of making this diagnosis in the presence of a Axis I
diagnosis. The problem is that some subtle chronic depressive illnesses
look like a personality disorder ("Borderline" being the classic
example) until the depression responds to an SSRI and then the Axis II
disappears.

However, having said all that, I believe that personality disorders do
exist, as there are many people who display remarkably maladaptive
behaviours in the absence of any obvious Axis I disorder. I guess the
diagnosis is a shorthand way of saying this person is likely to react in
a particular way in a particular set of circumstances.

also: atypical disassociative disorder (cult-brainwashing type compliance
due to mileu control, especially possible in a highly-structured military
setting).

also sociopathy.

also schizoaffective disorder makes people very suggestible to magical
thinking and suggestions perceived or real from others.

and then there's always transference and countertransference when the
role-model is just as pathological as the subject.

are we having fun yet?

+********** Snail me yer rosehips if you liked this post! ************
*Better Living Thru Better Living!* http://www.interport.net/~rugosa *

Psychoanalysts I have talked to are reluctant to diagnose personality disorders
(although they will diagnose clear-cut Axis I disorders like bipolar and panic
disorder). They feel that it's better to look at a person's life problems on an
individual basis, that's my understanding anyway. I sort of think that far too
much effort has been put into classifying "personality disorders" and that we
might do better to consider the utility of such a diagnosis - for example, I do
think it's useful to note that self-mutilating behavior is an alarm bell for a
history of childhood abuse.

An interesting point about personality disorders being diagnosed on the basis
of short-term behavior. A major depressive episode can go on for a long time, I
think my longest one has been around 20 months. Other disorders can be chronic,
like generalized anxiety or dysthymia. I wonder how many of these individuals
get mislabelled as "personality disordered" only to make a quick and full
recovery when properly treated with medication. Of course, it's also a popular
myth that true personality disorders won't respond to medication, but generally
both medication and talk therapy are required to obtain an improvement that is
more than transient.

-elizabeth

Axis III is for general medical conditions that might be relevant - like
diabetes mellitus, epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, etc. Axis IV is psychosocial
stressors, and Axis V is the global assessment of functioning score (number
from 1-100, where 1 is the lowest level of overall functioning, 100 is the
highest; 0 is "not enough information").

I had forgotten all about this thread. But did anyone see yesterday's episode
of JAG? That was pretty entertaining. Good show.

-elizabeth

(To each his own...I think it's a pretty good show personally.)

-elizabeth