Body Language And Personality Disorders

Believe it or not, a slight tilt of your eyebrows, quick movements of your hand and feet and sometimes even a jerk of your knee can be telling signs of the kind of person you are and at times reveal just a little more than that. Body language is the giveaway sign of our inner self and can be a convincing guide to decipher some of the most inexplicable human behavior. Have you ever met a loner and wondered at his eccentric self? Or have you ever paused to wonder what makes a psychopath so vaguely menacing? It’s their not-so-normal stoop and gait, gaze and gape, which make them different from their normal counterparts. While body language cannot be wholly relied on to diagnose personality disorders, understanding a few archetypal gestures and postures can get us a breakthrough through different personality disorders. People suffering from various personality disorders have a body language that is more specific to the disorder. Though very subtle, these telltale signs of body language hint at an underlying mental disorder. To know more on body language and personality disorders, read on.

Identifying narcissists maybe baffling, even for the mental health diagnostician, for this elusive breed of people display traits and signs that most often lay superimposed on other mental illness. However, a keen contemplation of one’s body language can giveaway much ignored signs of a self-obsessed person.  A narcissist never downplays his demeanor. On the contrary, he/she forever exudes an air of superiority, seniority, mysteriousness, amused indifference and more. The person would never shy away from making strong eye contacts, though he/she may refrain from establishing physical proximity.

Psychopaths are more of confident tricksters and contrary to the popular belief are exceptionally sane. They are unrestrained in their display of emotions and are smug and intimidating. Often their agitation, violent impatience and hyper vigilance are neatly camouflaged under their superficial equanimity. This often leads to a more ambiguous body language. They purely lack empathy, may be intruding and exhibit perplexing gestures.

Have you ever noticed a solitary self who is happy to be away, forever upholding a private personal turf and leading a life of detachment? An avoidant is clearly a reticent who is low on confidence, thin-skinned to criticism and is clearly withdrawn. He/she usually has a low stooping gait, may display a tense posture, avoid eye contact and sit with folded arms and legs.

The Borderlines are maniacs who are often caught in contest with their own emotional fickleness. They are nervy, shaky, restless people with emotional inconsistence. They are rash, haughty and display variety of emotions, often ranging from boredom to anger and even abandonment. They are edgy, demanding and sulky and can be often spotted fiddling with their cuffs, jewelry, hair etc.

The Schizoids are the ever-mourners, who seem to take delight at nothing. These passive breed of melancholy souls are best described as robots or machines, since they tend to feel or experience nothing. They are loners who skip all chances of social interaction, evade relationships and more often than not wear a blank expression of ‘nothingness’ on their face. They move slowly and reluctantly and appear almost zombie-like with their cold, aloof demeanor.

The Schizotypal suffers from idea of reference and live in constant fear of being ridiculed. They are best described as hyper vigilant who are never shy to exhibit their emotions. However, they are withdrawn selves who like to live a life of a loner. They dress oddly, behave eccentrically and somewhat appear weird. They have an ingrained fear of social interactions and can thus behave uncanny when placed in one such situation.

The Paranoids, true to their name, are suspicious of everything and may often startle you with a much uncalled-for response. They are cold and defensive, with restless darting eyes, and can often break into cold sweats and experience difficulty in breathing when encountered. They are hugely eccentric, may often become hostile and display inexplicable behavior at times.