Personality Types

In order to understand why different people react in different ways to the same kind of stresses it is helpful to know a bit about personality types. Put simply: there are three main personality types: the oral, the anal and the hysterical. We all show characteristics of these three types of personality but as a rule one type tends to predominate. These are the most obvious characteristics and the difficulties that go with them.

The Oral Personality (The Big Softy)
Oral personalities tend to be somewhat introverted. They may be shy and quiet. They are sensitive, emotionally intelligent and empathic. They tend to be good listeners. Their sensitivity tends to make them rather mercurial: in other words they go up and down like yoyos emotionally. They are likely to find happiness in friendship, reading books, art, music, making things or anything else creative. They thrive on being allowed to express their creativity. The down side of the oral personality is a tendency to lack ambition and to be overwhelmed by other people’s and their own emotions leading to depression or compulsive behaviour such as nail biting, drinking and over-eating.

The Anal Personality (The Control Freak)
Anal personalities tend to be driven, determined and organised, neat and tidy and they like to lead. They may well believe themselves to be sensitive but in reality they often lack insight and empathy. Some have a considerable urge to be powerful and a very strong need to be in control. They find it very difficult to cope with being wrong. They tend to be brooding and ruminating. They tend to be energetic and work hard. The down side of the anal personality is that in extreme cases the need to control can lead to obsessive thoughts and behaviour, hypochondria and paranoia.

The Hysterical Personality (The Drama Queen)
The most noticeable characteristic of the hysterical personality is the need to be the centre of attention. Hysterical people can be brilliant actors and are often amusing and fun. They are often concerned wth the personal appearance of themselves and others. They can lack depth and insight. Hysterical personalities who have experienced trauma in their lives, particularly early on, can be highly dissociative so that they find it very difficult to be aware of their own feelings tending to block them out very effectively. This stress and these unexpressed feelings have to come out somewhere and and often lead to unexplained physical symptoms and illnesses.