Passive aggressive behavior is frequently used to describe individuals who always make up some type of excuse when demands are made of them. The majority of individuals with passive aggressive behavior will indicate that they will perform a task but later respond by making a passive excuse like procrastination, waste time, stubbornness, show intentional deliberate carelessness, pretend to forget and then make irrational condemnation of individuals in high authority.
It is estimated that this behavior occurs in at least 1 in 7 individuals and is most common in both young men and women.
Passive aggressive personality disorder is a chronic disorder where the individual always initially agrees to meet the desires and demands of others, but in reality he/she passively oppose the tasks and then becomes very irate or hostile.
These individuals have a long history of negative thoughts when demands are made to perform a duty both at work and in the social environment. This behavior is commonly first seen in the workplace, but in retrospect, families will admit that the behavior has been long standing at home.
Almost always the negative behavior results in breakdown of interpersonal relationships.
The behavior is expressed by repeated postponements, inattentiveness obstinacy, and intentional incompetence. Without fail, this behavior arises when a task is assigned by someone in higher authority.
No one know what causes this passive aggressive behavior but it is most likely related to bad genes or the environment.
Features of the disorder include
- Repeatedly putting things off
- Deliberately forgetting to do things
- Being stubborn and acting dumb
- Having intense dislike of people in authority
- Frequently complaining and whining about mundane things
- Intentionally working slowly
- Feel unappreciated and want to be constantly praised
- Always blaming others for their misfortunes
- Dislike novel ideas even when practical and useful
- Continuously arguing for no apparent reason
Treatment
There is no easy way to treat this disorder because the individuals are very stubborn and never see themselves as the problem. Unless someone forces them into therapy such as family, friends or employers, the behavior continues for life. These individuals have minimal insight into their negative behavior and always see fault in others.
Some individuals may seek therapy after realizing they are not getting anywhere in life. There are no drugs that can cure passive aggressive behavior. Counseling and supportive therapy do help, but relapse is common. In rare cases, anti depressant drugs may help control the negative attitude but many individuals are not compliant.
When the individual is aware of his/her behavior, it is recommended that one stop drinking alcohol as it can make the negative attitude worse. Other methods which have yielded partial success include yoga, family and cognitive behavior therapy.
The prognosis for individuals with passive aggressive behavior is poor. Many end up lonely, isolated, become paranoid and develop depression.