Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder
Published on 10 November 2008 - 0:49
Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder is the 8th personality disorder in our series. You don’t want to miss any of them. People with OCPD have impossibly high standards for themselves and others. Personal relationships are a challenge for them because of their tendency to be critical of others who do not share their inflexible standards. They are convinced of the rightness of their beliefs, therefore they can be contentious. There are few gray areas as far as OCPD individuals are concerned. They perceive everything as right or wrong, good or bad. OCPD individuals are exceptionally good employees, because an OCPD person’s work is frequently his or her life… probably because everyone else is mad at him or her.
Take our free Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder Quiz.
4 Comments | Tags: Personality Disorders, Quizzes •
October 27th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Hey,
I am diagnosed with OCPD and live my life while struggling. Like any other setback, it can be a challenge to overcome. Simply one of the burdens I carry in my life, and how it deal with it is up to me.
It can be hard when it manifests as a eating disorder or other very obvious issues, but once again, I just look at it as part of my brain I have to learn to cope with.
Thinking about it as a personality disorder helps me to link many behaviors under one umbrella to increase my understanding of how they interact.
July 20th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
I am the wife of a very successful professor. We have three daughters who are bright and dutiful. My husband is domineering and demanding of excellence. The girls perform as is expected of them. Everything is great – from the outside. From teh inside, I feel my huband controls decisions, criticizes me, is cold and a workaholic. He is always focused on something other than the marriage or our togetherness. I come close to a nervous breakdown when on vacation with him. Shold we call this degree of OCPD dysfuctional although it seems to work well for the ‘welfare and success’ of the family?
December 30th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
To be considered OCPD the symptoms must have a significant negative influence on the person’s life (i.e., career, relationships). If the symptoms are exceptionally mild the diagnosis is relatively meaningless.
These folks are fabulous employees. A diagnosis is not meant to be criticism, it is meant to explain certain thoughts and/or behaviors and suggest helpful treatments– if the person wishes to make changes.
December 27th, 2008 at 7:42 am
I think OCPD should not be classified as a disorder until it negatively influenced a person’s life. For example, if an outstanding professor, who has OCPD traits, he can perform his job successfully and have a happy family. Should we classify his as having OCPD? I think no need~
I think the criteria in DSM-IV should include “the degree of negative influence”