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Chapter 24 - Other Personality Disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2025

By
Maria Carolina Pedalino Pinheiro  and
Carolina Olmos
Edited by
Marsal Sanches  and
Jair C. Soares
Marsal Sanches
Affiliation:
McGovern Medical School, Texas
Jair C. Soares
Affiliation:
McGovern Medical School, Texas
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Summary

Personality disorders play a major role in psychiatric clinical practice. Usually evident by adolescence, they arise when emotions, thoughts, impulsivity, and especially interpersonal behavior deviate markedly from the expectations of the individual’s culture. These disorders comprise a group of diverse and complex conditions that still warrant better understanding across multiple dimensions: genetic, neurobiological, pharmacological, and psychodynamic. This chapter addresses the definitions of both personality and personality disorder and outlines the two sets of diagnostic criteria: primary characteristics of personality disorder and the three main categories/clusters of personality disorder. It also discusses incidence of the specific disorders and relevant treatment modalities. Treatments plans should include psychotherapy, psychopharmacology, and psychoeducation, as well as treatment of comorbidities and crises. Psychotherapy has been the intervention of choice for most personality disorders, with pharmacological treatment usually auxiliary and focused on symptoms. Clinician skill is a key element of diagnosis and treatment. An experienced clinician should be able to differentiate between personality traits or styles and actual personality disorders, a particularly challenging task when a patient presents in crisis. Individuals with personality disorders can manifest a disturbed pattern in interpersonal relationships that can be deleterious in the therapeutic relationship if not approached with skill.

Keywords

Personality DisordersPsychotherapyTreatmentPsychopharmacology
Type
Chapter
Information
Fundamentals of Clinical Psychiatry
A Practical Handbook
 , pp. 239 - 246
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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