10 General Symptoms of Personality Disorder

4. Atypical Social Disposition

Many personality disorders affect how a person relates to others. Some people may avoid social situations completely, feeling anxious or afraid around others. This is common in avoidant personality disorder.

Others may act in the opposite way—being overly dramatic, emotional, or attention-seeking, even in uncomfortable or inappropriate ways. People with histrionic personality disorder, for example, may crave constant approval and behave in ways that are meant to draw attention.

In both cases, these social patterns are hard to change and often lead to misunderstandings or conflict.