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From time to time, rational discussion on SI threads is disrupted by attitudes and behavior that antagonize other people who are posting. It might be helpful to understand that in some cases the trouble results from well-defined patterns known as "personality disorders," and that these patterns are very hard to change. To take an obvious example, telling a person whose outlook is paranoid that he or she is unreasonably suspicious is more likely to lead to accusations of hostility than to acceptance of the criticism.
Also, people suffering from such disorders sometimes pick up, as part of their defensive mechanisms and as a result of attempts at treating them, enough of the jargon of psychotherapy to make the objects of their attacks feel uncomfortable, interrupting or even terminating useful discussions.
To recognize that what we perceive as "trouble-makers" are people who simply cannot control their behavior may make it easier to put up with, or get around, such distractions.
The following site provides some definitions, of which those having to to with paranoid personality disorder, narcissism, borderline personality disorder, and psychopathic personality may be the most useful:
mentalhealth.com
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