DEFINITION:
The phrase “dependent personality disorder (DPD)” refers to a long-standing mental illness characterized by a pervasive emotional and material dependence upon other people, resulting in an inability to function as an autonomous individual.
ETYMOLOGY:
The phrase DPD was introduced into the psychological literature in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III), published in 1980.
The English adjective “dependent” is attested from the fourteenth century. It derives, via Middle English and Middle French, from the Classical Latin verb, dēpendeo, dēpendere, meaning “to hang from” or “to depend upon.”
For the etymology of the term “personality,” see the Glossary entry, personality.
For the etymology of the term “disorder,” see the Glossary entry, borderline personality disorder.
DISCUSSION:
DPD patients depend on others to meet their emotional needs for companionship and intimacy, as well as the physical requirements for life.
Beset by feelings of fear and anxiety, DPD sufferers experience life as threatening and themselves as helpless. For this reason, they seek out powerful individuals on whom they can rely for emotional and material support.
DPD symptoms may include the following: emotional immaturity; passivity; depression in response to a failed relationship or the perception of abandonment; fear of separation; aversion to being alone; social isolation and loneliness; reluctance to assume personal responsibility; seeking constant approval from others; and submissiveness towards others.
In addition, patients with DPD are introverted, highly sensitive to criticism, and fearful of rejection. Moreover, they are indecisive and overly reliant on other people to make important decisions for them.
Finally, sufferers from DPD are pessimistic, expecting the worst out of every situation or believing the worst outcome will occur.
The etiology of DPD is unknown. However, certain commonsense observations may be made.
Children, of course, are naturally dependent on their parents and other adults. Therefore, DPD should be seen as fundamentally a developmental disorder, in which the natural growth of independence over the course of childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood fails to follow its proper trajectory.
Some investigators suggest that the distortion of this normal developmental process may derive from parental overprotectiveness, which can undermine the acquisition of a sense of competence and personal autonomy.