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José Luis Carrasco, psiquiatra: “La clave para proteger contra los trastornos de la personalidad son la atención amorosa y la confianza”
SOURCE - SPANISH
CAT - MATECAT
CAT - SMARTCAT
En su último libro, ‘La personalidad y sus trastornos’, invita a los lectores a una introducción divulgativa a la ciencia de la personalidad.
Al final de un pasillo largo y oscuro, casi tapiado por los ladrillos de un edificio anexo, el despacho de José Luis Carrasco (Cáceres, 63 años), jefe de Psiquiatría y creador y director de la Unidad de Trastornos de la Personalidad del Hospital Clínico San Carlos de Madrid, se abre repentinamente a la luz. Tras el amplio ventanal situado a espaldas de su mesa de trabajo, el cielo azul sin mácula de una mañana de mayo y el verde de los árboles dibujan —por contraste con los ladrillos— un escenario casi bucólico.
A la izquierda del escritorio, una amplia estantería luce extrañamente despejada. Apenas una veintena de libros sobre psiquiatría y sobre trastornos de la personalidad, la especialidad a la que Carrasco ha dedicado más de 30 años de carrera. Entre esos volúmenes, expuesto con la portada mirando al frente, su último libro, La personalidad y sus trastornos (Arpa, 2024), en el que el psiquiatra invita a los lectores a una introducción divulgativa a la ciencia de la personalidad, una rama que hace tres décadas, confiesa, “era casi como la ciencia ficción”.
“Antes la psiquiatría se encargaba de enfermedades muy claras: las depresiones graves, las esquizofrenias, los trastornos bipolares... pero lo que se llamaban las psicopatías —que eran las personalidades anómalas— siempre se habían considerado algo poco médico”, explica Carrasco, que reconoce que gracias a la entrada paulatina de estos trastornos en el campo de la medicina y de la psiquiatría en las últimas décadas se ha podido avanzar mucho en el conocimiento de sus causas, de su neurobiología, de los factores psicológicos y familiares que los producen, y de los tratamientos.
Pregunta. Escribe en la introducción que utilizamos la palabra “personalidad” con “una naturalidad pasmosa, sin darnos cuenta de que, después del concepto de Dios, es el “más formidable e inalcanzable que existe”.
Respuesta. Es que es un concepto muy fuerte. Cuando calificamos a alguien por su personalidad, en realidad es como si estuviésemos calificando todo su ser, toda su esencia. Eso, si lo pensamos, es tan complejo como la idea misma de Dios. Y lo de calificar la personalidad de alguien lo hacemos bastante y muy a la ligera. Apenas a través de un encuentro, de un comentario o de una acción ya decimos que “esta persona es neurótica” o que “aquella persona tiene una personalidad obsesiva”. Etiquetamos la personalidad de una persona a partir de una reacción o un acto, de una manifestación momentánea de su personalidad en un momento determinado y en un contexto determinado, y a partir de ahí ya nos comportamos siempre con esa persona en función de esa etiqueta. Eso es un error, porque es un prejuicio que nos impide ver a esa persona de otra manera. Conocer la personalidad de alguien lleva mucho tiempo.
In his latest book, ‘Personality and its Disorders’, he invites readers to an informative introduction to the science of personality.
At the end of a long, dark corridor, almost covered by the bricks of an annex building, the office of José Luis Carrasco (Cáceres, 63 years old), head of Psychiatry and creator and director of the Personality Disorders Unit of the San Carlos Clinical Hospital in Madrid, suddenly opens to the light. Behind the large window located behind his work table, the unblemished blue sky of a May morning and the green of the trees draw - in contrast to the bricks - an almost bucolic scenario.
To the left of the desk, a large bookshelf looks strangely uncluttered. Barely twenty books on psychiatry and personality disorders, the specialty to which Carrasco has dedicated more than 30 years of career. Among those volumes, exhibited with the cover facing the front, his latest book, The personality and its disorders (Arpa, 2024), in which the psychiatrist invites readers to an informative introduction to the science of personality, a branch that three decades ago, he confesses, “was almost like science fiction”.
“Before, psychiatry dealt with very clear diseases: severe depressions, schizophrenias, bipolar disorders... but what were called psychopathies - which were anomalous personalities - had always been considered something unmedical,” explains Carrasco, who acknowledges that thanks to the gradual entry of these disorders into the field of medicine and psychiatry in recent decades, much progress has been made in understanding their causes, their neurobiology, the psychological and family factors that produce them, and treatments.
Question. He writes in the introduction that we use the word “personality” with “an astonishing naturalness, without realizing that, after the concept of God, it is the “most formidable and unattainable that exists. ”
Answer. It's a very strong concept. When we qualify someone by their personality, it is actually as if we are qualifying their whole being, their whole essence. That, if we think about it, is as complex as the very idea of God. And we do it quite lightly when it comes to qualifying someone's personality. Barely through an encounter, a comment or an action do we say that “this person is neurotic” or that “that person has an obsessive personality”. We label the personality of a person from a reaction or an act, from a momentary manifestation of his personality at a certain time and in a certain context, and from there we always behave with that person based on that label. That is a mistake, because it is a prejudice that prevents us from seeing that person in a different way. Knowing someone's personality takes a long time.
In his latest book, ‘Personality and its Disorders’, he invites readers to an informative introduction to the science of personality.
At the end of a long, dark corridor, almost walled off by the bricks of an annex building, the office of José Luis Carrasco (Cáceres, 63 years old), head of Psychiatry and creator and director of the Personality Disorders Unit at the Hospital Clínico San Carlos in Madrid, suddenly opens up to the light. Behind the large window behind his desk, the unblemished blue sky of a May morning and the green of the trees create - by contrast with the bricks - an almost bucolic scene.
To the left of the desk, a wide shelf looks strangely uncluttered. Carrasco has written more than twenty books on psychiatry and personality disorders, the specialty to which he has devoted more than 30 years of his career. Among those volumes, displayed with the cover facing forward, his latest book, La personalidad y sus trastornos (Arpa, 2024), in which the psychiatrist invites readers to an informative introduction to the science of personality, a branch that three decades ago, he confesses, "was almost like science fiction".
"Before, psychiatry was in charge of very clear illnesses: severe depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorders... but what were called psychopathies - which were anomalous personalities - had always been considered unmedical," explains Carrasco, who recognizes that thanks to the gradual entry of these disorders into the field of medicine and psychiatry in recent decades, it has been possible to make great progress in the knowledge of psychopathic disorders. In recent decades, much progress has been made in understanding their causes, their neurobiology, the psychological and family factors that produce them, and their treatments.
Question. He writes in the introduction that we use the word "personality" with "an astonishing naturalness, without realizing that, after the concept of God, it is the "most formidable and unattainable that exists".
Response. It is a very strong concept. When we qualify someone by their personality, in reality it is as if we were qualifying their whole being, their whole essence. That, if we think about it, is as complex as the very idea of God. And we do it quite lightly and very lightly when it comes to qualifying someone's personality. Just through an encounter, a comment or an action we already say that "this person is neurotic" or "that person has an obsessive personality". We label a person's personality based on a reaction or an act, a momentary manifestation of his or her personality at a given moment and in a given context, and from that moment on we always behave with that person according to that label. That is a mistake, because it is a prejudice that prevents us from seeing that person in a different way. Getting to know someone's personality takes a long time.
Final version
In his latest book, ‘La personalidad y sus trastornos’, he invites readers to an informative introduction to the science of personality.
At the end of a long, dark corridor, almost walled off by the bricks of an annex building, the office of José Luis Carrasco (Cáceres, 63 years old), head of Psychiatry and creator and director of the Personality Disorders Unit at the Hospital Clínico San Carlos in Madrid, suddenly opens up to the light. Behind the large window behind his desk, the unblemished blue sky of a May morning and the green of the trees create - by contrast with the bricks - an almost bucolic scene.
To the left of the desk, a large bookshelf looks strangely uncluttered. Barely twenty books on psychiatry and personality disorders, the speciality to which Carrasco has devoted more than 30 years of his career. Among these volumes, displayed with the cover facing forward, his latest book, La personalidad y sus trastornos (Arpa, 2024), in which the psychiatrist invites readers to an informative introduction to the science of personality, a branch that three decades ago, he confesses, "was almost like science fiction".
"Before, psychiatry dealt with very clear illnesses: severe depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorders... but what were called psychopathies - which were abnormal personalities - had always been considered something unmedical. but what were called psychopathies - which were abnormal personalities - had always been considered something unmedical," explains Carrasco, who acknowledges that thanks to the gradual entry of these disorders into the field of medicine and psychiatry in recent decades, much progress has been made in the knowledge of their causes, their neurobiology, the psychological and family factors that produce them, and the treatments.
Question. You write in the introduction that we use the word "personality" with "astonishing naturalness, without realising that, after the concept of God, it is the "most formidable and unattainable concept there is".
Response. It is a very strong concept. When we qualify someone by their personality, it is really as if we are qualifying their whole being, their whole essence. That, if we think about it, is as complex as the very idea of God. And we do qualify someone's personality quite lightly. Just through an encounter, a comment or an action we say "this person is neurotic" or "that person has an obsessive personality". We label a person's personality on the basis of a reaction or an act, a momentary manifestation of their personality at a given moment and in a given context, and from then on we always behave towards that person on the basis of that label. This is a mistake, because it is a prejudice that prevents us from seeing that person in any other way. It takes a long time to get to know someone's personality.
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