(Extract from the Mind Publication "Understanding Personality Disorders ")

Personality Disorder is one of the most controversial psychiatric diagnoses. There are a number of categories of personality disorder which cover a wide range of attitudes and behaviour from ruthless exploitativeness to fear of other people and social withdrawal.

At what point do eccentric or negative personality characteristics shade into personality disorder? What do we know about the causes and treatments for personality disorder? Is antisocial personality disorder treatable? This booklet attempts to answer these questions. Information about multiple personality disorder is not included here since it is classified as a dissociative disorder, not a personality disorder.

What is personality Disorder?

The word ' personality' refers to the enduring pattern of thoughts, feelings and outward behaviour which is characteristic of an individual. We tend to behave in relatively predictable ways, yet our personalities also develop and change in response to changed circumstances. Many people are flexible enough to be able to learn from past experiences and change their behaviour in order to cope more effectively.

Personality disorders, on the other hand, are characterized by a long-lasting, inflexible and limited range of attitudes and behaviours which are expressed in a wide variety of settings and which deviate markedly from the expectations of the person's culture and cause distress to the person or to others. Personality disorders often begin or become noticeable during adolescence or early adulthood, although they sometimes begin during childhood. The narrow range of experiences, responses and coping strategies displayed by someone suffering from a personality disorder cause great distress in most circumstances, making it difficult for sufferers to develop friendships, maintain stable partnerships and work co-operatively with others. The suicide risk is reckoned to be three times greater in people suffering from a personality disorder than in the general population.

Personality disorders differ in the degree to which they disrupt the the person's life (or the lives of others) and the extent to which they can be successfully treated. Often a person suffering from a personality disorder suffers additionally from an emotional problem such as depression or phobia. For example, someone suffering from a social phobia or agoraphobia may also be diagnosed as having an avoidant personality disorder. Even if many of the problems associated with the phobia have been resolved, stressful events may trigger an underlying pattern of avoidance and dependency.

Topics also included in this leaflet are: