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Buster Walth Dependent Personality Disorder

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Dependent Personality Disorder is characterized by “a pervasive and excessive need to be taken care of that leads to submissive and clinging behavior” (APA, 2013, p. 675). This description aptly defines the personality of Buster Bluth from the television show Arrested Development. Buster has difficulty making everyday decisions, has issues with expressing disagreement, seeks out another close relationship once one goes awry, goes to excessive lengths to obtain nurture, has anxiety when faced with difficult decisions, and his social relationships are limited. All these traits are symptoms of Dependent Personality Disorder (APA, 2013, p. 675). Based on this, Buster Bluth should be diagnosed with Dependent Personality Disorder. The first symptom …show more content…

Buster started out with a dependence on his mother, Lucille. Lucille was trying to push him away and so Buster found a relationship with Lucille two, his mother’s friend and rival. Lucille two is around the same age as Lucille and Buster starts a romantic relationship with her (). Buster eventually wants to move in with Lucille two because he has become jealous that she is bonding with another man. When Lucille two confronts him, he tells her “you’re replacing my mother” (). This leads to Lucille two ending the relationship. Buster tries to go back to his mother but she will not let him back in so he goes to stay with is brother Michael (). Buster even tries to sleep in the same bed with Michael (). Clearly, Buster cannot live on his own and always has to have a dependent relationship with someone. He goes from Lucille to Lucille two to Michael. This type of behavior shows that he cannot be independent and is another consideration to diagnose him with Dependent Personality …show more content…

These include anxiety when faced with decisions and limited social relations (). Buster is not often asked to decide things or to take sides but when he is, he has an anxiety attack. The family needs Buster’s skills as a cartographer to help them navigate a boat and with everyone relying on him to say where to family needs to go, he has a panic attack (). He even went as far as putting himself into a coma just to avoid testifying against his father (). These types of behavior severely hinder his everyday functioning and decision-making. In addition to this, Buster has a very small social circle. His only true friend is his mother and he sometimes associates with his other family members. The only person with whom Buster has a relationship outside of the family is Lucille two (). These associated features help to strengthen the cause for diagnosis of Buster

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