Our therapists offer dependent personality disorder therapy in Manassas, VA

The Symptoms of Dependent Personality Disorder

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) gives those symptoms for diagnosing Dependent Personality Disorder (301.6[F70.7]). There are three main diagnostics:

1. Submissive behavior.
2. A need to be taken care of.
3. Separation anxiety.

At least five of the following symptoms will also be present in people with Dependent Personality Disorder:

• Making simple, everyday decisions are difficult… people need an authority figure’s advice or reassurance to make a choice.
• Being uncomfortable with one’s own individuality.
• Fearing being alone or having to provide for oneself.
• Giving significant areas of responsibility for one’s life over to other people. For example, allowing a parent or caregiver to pay one’s bills.
• Putting great effort into ensuring that others support and nurture oneself, even changing one’s identity or values to appease a caregiver.
• Intensely fearing abandonment.
• Having a compliant personality that often agrees with others to ensure their approval or hides one’s true thoughts and feelings out of fear.
• When one caregiving relationship ends, quickly establishing a new one.
• Intense fear of being alone.

In reading through these symptoms, it is easy to see how Dependent Personality Disorder can be severely disruptive in an individual’s professional and personal life. People with the disorder often have difficulty forming mutual friendships and have limited social circles. Professionally, they rarely show initiative and lack confidence. They often have difficulty securing employment and then advancing within their professions. Further, people with the disorder are at increased risk for other depression, anxiety, adjustment, and personalities disorders.

Setting Up an Appointment for Dependent Personality Disorder at Thriveworks Manassas in Prince William

At Thriveworks Manassas, we offer:

• Cognitive behavioral therapy – confronts the negative and untrue beliefs that fuel the disorder and replaces them with true, positive beliefs.
• Medication – is often a help for symptom relief and may allow people to focus upon long-term healing.
• Psychodynamic therapy – goes deep into the psychological wound and assesses how and why the dependency formed.

If you are struggling with dependency, know that you are not alone. Help is available. When you call Thriveworks Manassas in Prince William County, you may have your first appointment the following day.

We offer evening and weekend sessions, and we accept many different forms of insurance. Call today for an appointment, or schedule online.