Brief Answer: Varied reasons and yes it can be treated... Detailed Answer: Hi Thanks for using healthcare magic. I, Dr Abhishek Kapoor, would help you in this problem. Every human in this world has some personality issue. Around 85% population of the world have some or other personality traits or issues. When these traits effects social life, then its lead to a disorder, which is called personality disorder. There are multiple reasons behind personality disorder like genetic, childhood trauma, social factor, brain abnormalities etc. As a human, between 12 to 20 years of age, we develop our personality and whatever personality traits we develop between this period, that stay with us for life long. If due to some reason like childhood trauma or family issues or other factor, we do not get right environment, this leads to distortion in personality and leads to personality disorder. Perhaps your mother developed it due to family issues or genetic factor. Based on your description I feel she may have borderline personality disorder. In this personality, a person would remain emotionally unstable that means some time she would be extremely good and other time bad, pattern of marked impulsivity, difficulty in maintaining interpersonal relationships, bad self image, aggressive, paranoid ideation, threatening behavior etc. Whatever personality a person carry, it is very difficult to change it, unless a person herself try to change it. Same is in your mother case. If she feels, she has some personality issues and she wants to improve it, then chances of getting good results would be high. However, there are medicines available to treat it. Few drugs like oxecarbamazepine could helpful to control mood swings. Besides the medicine psychotherapy could help to realize about the problems. I would suggest you to help her consult a psychiatrist or psychologist for detailed evaluation and psychotherapy. In case, you need more query, you can ask. Regards Dr. Abhishek Kapoor Psychiatrist

---