Does anyone have experience with personality disorders in an elderly relative or friend?
It was once thought that personality disorders ‘burnt out’ as people aged but this is now being challenged and refuted. ‘Bad’ people stay ‘bad’. ‘Difficult’ people stay ‘difficult’.
What happens to people who had personality disorders once they get into their '80’s or '90’s???
Vona
In my own experience (parents and other relatives), personality traits seem to actually intensify in the elderly. Plus the fact that the elderly are often dealing with issues that they hadn’t had to deal with when younger.
Just my experience, my father (but not my mother) and my aunt (but not my uncle) appeared to become noticeably more-so in their oldest age (86, 76, 93, and 92 respectively).
I would say the two that got more difficult did so by leaving out the reality checks that would have kept them from setting up problems for themselves and those near them. I wouldn’t attribute that to losing brain cells, either; it was more an approach, “This (every) decision is my personal business”, while disregarding the possibility of any consequences.
I believe they just get worse-the longer they go untreated, the worse it gets.