Personality or Pathology?

I've got a bit of a pet peeve when it comes to over-pathologising what are really just expected variations in personality or temperament. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying personality disorders aren't a thing – they absolutely are. They can seriously mess with someone's quality of life and often need a mix of biological, psychological, and social interventions to manage.

What bugs me is when we treat normal differences in temperament like they're problems to be fixed or labelled. Instead, we should be celebrating and accepting those quirks that make us who we are! 

The diagram below lays out some temperament dimensions and we're all somewhere along the spectrum for each dimension. Some folks are naturally sunny-side-up optimistic, while others tend to lean toward a more ‘realistic’ outlook. Some are the life of the party, while others are more comfortable flying solo. These traits tend to stick with us throughout life.

So, why spend all your energy trying to change yourself when you can learn to embrace what makes you unique? It is OKAY to be anywhere along the spectrum. It only becomes a problem when it starts causing you distress or impacts your functioning in various ways. For example, if you are extremely imbalanced to one end of the spectrum, this is when we might explore if there is something more than ‘personality’ going on, and whether there is some dysfunction or pathology that has developed.

I found this diagram helpful for understanding my own natural tendencies and why I am more inclined to react the way I do in certain situations. I may have also forced my husband to go through it with me! Going through it together helped us understand each other's quirks a whole lot better and why we revert to certain patterns of behaviours or states. See below for a brief description for each dimension.