What are the characteristics of a type D personality?

Type D personalities tend to be distressed, lonely, negative and isolated; they are often frustrated and irritated. Watch psychiatrist Sudeepta Varma, MD, explain the characteristics and health risks for Type D people, especially heart disease.

Transcript

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When you think of the quintessential pessimist, the person who's got a chip on their shoulder, the grouchy old man down the street, this is more of a type D personality.

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The characteristics of a type D personality are one of somebody who is extremely distressed easily, who has difficulty opening up and sharing their emotions,

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someone who's lonely and isolated a lot, someone who gets frustrated and irritated easily, and somebody who chronically is in a bad mood.

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So when you think of the quintessential pessimist, the person who's got a chip on their shoulder, the grouchy old man down the street, this is more of a type D personality.

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The type D personality is more of a new up-and-coming personality type that has been studied in the last decade, particularly when it comes to cardiovascular risk factors.

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When we were studying cardiovascular risk factors, we realized that there was a gap. The psychologists and medical researchers that are looking at this found that there

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was a personality type that really better explained some of the heart issues.

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So we find that type D personalities are three times as much at risk than the general population to getting heart attacks, and in fact, the majority

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of heart attacks, about half or more are contributed by type D personality. [MUSIC PLAYING]