Immature personality disorder is characterized by lack of emotional development, low tolerance of stress and anxiety, inability to accept personal responsibility, and reliance on age-inappropriate defense mechanisms.
Immature personality disorder isn’t a formal diagnosis in current psychiatric classification systems like the DSM-5 or ICD-11.
It demonstrates ineffectual responses to social, psychological and physical demands.
Immature personality disorder applies to individuals who are unable to maintain their emotional equilibrium and independence under minor or major stress because of disturbances in emotional development.
The underlying causes often involve disrupted emotional development during childhood, which can result from trauma, inconsistent parenting, or other developmental disruptions.
People with these patterns may have learned maladaptive coping strategies that served them in childhood but become problematic in adult relationships and responsibilities.
This classification is applied only to cases of personality disorder in which the neurotic features of anxiety, conversion, phobia are relatively insignificant, and the basic personality maldevelopment is the crucial distinguishing factor.
The underlying mechanism of the disorder explained either as fixation of character patterns persisting from childhood to adult life, or as a regressive reaction due to severe stress with reversion to an earlier stage of development).
Poor emotional control requires quick mobilization of defense, usually explosive in nature, for the protection of the ego.
IPD involves a weakness of the ego, which limits the ability to restrain impulses or anxiety.
They fail to integrate the aggressive and libidinal factors at play and are not able to parse their own experiences.
IPD can be caused by a neurobiological immaturity of brain functioning, or through a childhood trauma, or other insult.
The concept relates to several recognized conditions and patterns of behavior.
Treatment typically involves psychotherapy focused on developing emotional regulation skills, building self-awareness, and learning healthier relationship patterns.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) are commonly used approaches.