Dependent Personality Disorder Symptoms

Being too much dependent on other's opinion, he is unable to take even the most simplest decision in his life. 'I'm dependent' is the thought that has been ingrained in his mind since long...

From the aforementioned statement, you might have got a hint on dependent personality disorder (DPD). Medically it has been defined as, a personality disorder that is characterized by a pervasive psychological dependence on other people.

An individual is unable to take any kind of decision by himself and he is completely dependent on the opinion of others in order to fulfill his physical and emotional requirements. The disorder being chronic, enables a person to sustain a wide range of distorted thoughts pertaining to his life, which further makes him vulnerable to frequent anxiety attacks.

He is incapable of moving ahead in life without taking advice from friends, spouse and other people with whom he is associated with. In short, his personality is completely dependent. Understanding a person suffering from dependency disorder is a little difficult unless you are well acquainted with him. 

Once you come to know the person completely, you can clearly make out from the behavior he exhibits. Dependent personality disorder symptoms are mostly associated with too much of physical and emotional attachment with others. We explain you the symptoms here.

• Avoids taking responsibilities in both personal and professional life.
• Cannot make a single decision without taking advice from others.
• Reassures from others repeatedly even after deciding.
• Lack of self-confidence, self-esteem and faith on himself.

• Accepts opinions easily without disagreeing even if the judgment is wrong.
• Fear of abandonment and rejection on personal and professional grounds.
• A negative approach to almost everything in life (pessimistic).
• Tolerates ill treatment, humiliation and insult without objecting.
• Intensely sensitive to criticism on failing to do something.

• Highly impulsive, yet tends to stay calm and docile.
• Mistrusts and suspects people with whom connected to.
• Always depends on others for emotional and physical security.
• Cannot initiate any project or contrive a plan with his own mind.
• Gives importance to the needs of others more than his own.

• Suffers from severe dejection on abrupt end of a close relationship.
• Tends to remain inexperienced, uninformative and dwells in fantasy.
• Fear of staying alone and preoccupied with thoughts of desertion and dejection.
• Suffers from bouts of depression and helplessness when isolated.
• Tendency to cry inexplicably when a loved one goes away.

From the aforementioned symptoms you can well understand the fact, that individuals with dependent personality disorder are highly sensitive. Being in a relationship with such an individual is indeed challenging, because he is in constant look out for emotional support.

At times it becomes difficult to understand their nature because they tend to remain calm and docile to suppress their anger. It's because, the fear of hurting others is predominant in them. The latent anger often becomes detrimental to their health, giving rise to cardiac problems in the long run.

Thus, it becomes necessary to balance your needs with theirs. DPD is a chronic condition, the treatment of which is possible with a cognitive-behavioral therapy, performed by expert psychologists. If any of your close acquaintance is suffering from this psychological disorder, then you can make the following efforts to aid in his quick recovery.

• Boost up his self-confidence and encourage him in every possible way.
• Assign him small responsibilities, that he knows well to carry out.
• Be caring and loving so that he doesn't feel lonely and isolated.
• Build a positive vibe around him and make every effort to pull him out of depression and fear.
• Engage him into a lot of physical exercises and meditation.

Treatment of this disorder is not an overnight affair. There's no particular cause associated behind his disorder, nevertheless, children who have been showered with excessive parental care are more prone to develop DPD when they grow up.

It's always suggested to get an psychoanalysis done to find out the right treatment for it. Complete recovery takes substantial time as the treatment deals with transforming a person's approach towards his life and his overall behavior, which is quite a difficult task.