Removing the Mask of Kindness: Diagnosis and Treatment of the Caretaker Personality Disorder

Character traits may be used as defenses, or, ‘coping mechanisms’ that may be developed by individuals in an exaggerated fashion in order to conceal psychological conflicts. When these mechanisms break down, previously repressed trauma erupts into consciousness. One such trait is selflessness. Les Barbanell examines the transformation of selflessness into the Caretaker Personality Disorder and how it is not always better to give than receive, that being good can go bad, and that the ‘disease to please’ can even be fatal.