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When should I seek help?
• If you believe your behaviours are a problem or if you answer yes to any of the following
questions, you should seek professional assistance (see pages 15–16):
Do you have pervasive personality traits that cause you or others distress?
Do your personality traits or substance use interfere with your home, work, study,
relationships or social life?
Do you use alcohol, tobacco or other drugs to cope?
Have you thought about harming yourself or others?
How are personality disorders treated?
• Effective treatments are available. Both psychological therapy and medication can help
people with personality disorders.
• The type of treatment depends on the type of personality disorder.
Psychological therapy
• Psychological treatments usually involve therapy that is focused on coping with negative
emotions, learning how to interact with people in different situations, understanding and
changing underlying beliefs that may contribute to some maladaptive personality traits,
and managing self-harm and suicidal behavior.
• Some of the most common psychological treatments are cognitive behaviour therapy
(CBT) and dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT).
• If you’re interested in seeing a psychologist, your GP
can help you by preparing a mental health plan, and
referring you to an appropriate psychologist.
Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT)
• CBT is a psychological treatment where a person
works with a therapist to look at their patterns of
thinking (cognition) and acting (behaviour). Once
negative thinking patterns can be identified, a
person can make changes to replace them with ones
that promote good moods, more realistic thoughts,
and better coping skills. This type of therapy also
encourages a person to participate in activities they
previously enjoyed, and increase activities that
give them pleasure or a sense of achievement.