Discuss the role that traumatic events play in the development of personality disorders

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Traumatic events that occur during critical developmental windows can have profound and long-term effects on brain biology. The process is thought to begin when early maltreatment leads to problems with basic attachment; attachment is one of the processes that provide the foundation for our later ability to relate to others interpersonally. Poor attachment is believed to interfere with brain structures that underlie development of the ability to think about the mental states of others. Therefore, early trauma and the subsequent disruption in attachment may lead to neurodevelopmental deficits in interpersonal functioning and create a pathway to the development of severe personality disturbance.
Traumatic events also change a person’s neurobiological responses to threatening stimuli, thereby altering the regulation of arousal, fear conditioning, and emotional response mechanisms. Because many personality disorders represent maladaptive, and in many cases, exaggerated responses to seemingly innocuous interpersonal events, these fundamental neurobiological disturbances may well underlie the erratic and dysregulated responses to the world commonly seen in people with personality disorders.