Personality Change: Causes

What causes personality change?

Sometimes, personality change is a normal part of development. It can also be the result of deliberate effort or therapy. Sometimes, however, personality change is unexpected, unwanted, or not controlled. In these cases, it may be related to an underlying mental illness or damage to the brain.

Mental illness causes of personality change

Personality change may be caused by many different mental illnesses including:

• Anxiety disorders such as obsessive compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder
• Borderline personality disorder (condition characterized by unstable relationships)
• Dementia (including Alzheimer’s disease)
• Schizophrenia

Other causes of personality change

Personality change can also be caused by other conditions or events including:

• Brain damage or tumor
• Certain medications
• Deliberate effort
• Drug or alcohol abuse
• Head injury
• Infection
• Major life changes
• Stress
• Surgery

Serious or life-threatening causes of personality change

In some cases, personality change may be a symptom of a serious or life-threatening condition that should be immediately evaluated in an emergency setting. These include:

• Severe infection
• Stroke
• Traumatic brain injury

Questions for diagnosing the cause of personality change

To diagnose your condition, your doctor or licensed health care practitioner will ask you several questions related to your personality change including:

• When did you first notice your personality change?
• Do you have any other symptoms?
• Have you been ill recently?
• Have you had a recent injury?
• Have you experienced any major life events recently?
• Do you have any diagnosed mental illnesses?
• Do you have a family history of mental illness?
• What medications are you taking?

What are the potential complications of personality change?

Personality change can be normal, and in some cases may even be the positive result of your deliberate effort or the result of therapy. In other cases, however, personality change is unwanted, unexpected, or uncontrollable. In these situations, personality change may be the result of brain damage or infection, or a mental disorder.

Because spontaneous personality change can be due to serious diseases, failure to seek treatment can result in serious complications and permanent damage. Once the underlying cause is diagnosed, it is important for you to follow the treatment plan that you and your health care professional design specifically for you to reduce the risk of potential complications including:

• Absenteeism from work or school
• Alcohol or drug abuse
• Depression
• Development of mental illness
• Inability to perform daily activities
• Loss of employment
• Loss of relationships
• Paralysis
• Spread of infection

References:

Borderline personality disorder. National Institute of Mental Health. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/borderline-personality-disorder-fact-sheet/index.shtml. Accessed June 1, 2011

Personality disorders. PubMed Health. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001935/. Accessed June 1, 2011