Session 1

Personality Disorder (PD)

enduring pattern of inner experiences and (PD) is an enduring pattern of inner experiences and
behavior that:
A. deviates markedly from the experiences of the individual’s culture (in at
least 2 areas: cognition, affectivity, interpersonal functioning and/or impulse
control)
B. is pervasive and inflexible
C. has an onset in adolescence or early adulthood
D. is stable over time
E. leads to distress or impairment

To be diagnosed with a PD under 18 symptoms must persist over (this does not include __)

1 year, antisocial PD

PDs predispose individuals to

other mental disorders

PDs affect the presentations and trajectories of

other mental disorders

critique of DSM-5 for PD

descriptive not explanatory (no info on the why or how)

PDs impact __ and __ of mental disorders

treatment and success

Diagnosis, Can Harmful Because: they deal with

personality or personality deficit (insulting/hurtful)

Diagnosis, Can Harmful Because: they locate the problem

"inside” the person (damaging to sense of self)

Diagnosis, Can Harmful Because: they are highly

stigmatizing

Diagnosis, Can Helpful Because: can help a person __ their distress

understand

Diagnosis, Can Helpful Because: may lead to less

confusion and isolation, given a name/community

Diagnosis, Can Helpful Because: may guide and inform

treatment and strategies

Diagnosis, Can Helpful Because: enables one to locate a

specialist or help

(Hornstein) 3 Sources of Doubt in the Validity of a PD Diagnosis

1. impossibility of assessing if response is “appropriate”

2. role of cultural/moral standards

3. social/political realities in creation/maintenance of disorders (ex. prison system for profit, felon on job apps)

assessment challenges in PD Dx

1. overlap with psychiatric disorders

2. subjective nature of criteria (“emptiness”, excessive, extreme, etc)

3. symptom overlap w PDs

paranoid PD: pattern of

distrust and suspiciousness

schizoid PD: pattern of

detachment from social relationships and a restricted range of emotions

schizoitypal PD: pattern of

acute discomfort in close relationships with cognitive/perceptual distortions and eccentricities of behavior

borderline PD: pattern of

instability in relationships, self-image, affects w marked impulsivity

histrionic PD: pattern of

emotionality and attention seeking

narcissistic PD: pattern of

grandiosity, need for admiration, lack of empathy

antisocial PD: pattern of

consistently disregarding right form wrong/ignoring rights/feelings of others

avoidant PD: pattern of

social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy and hypersensitivity to negative evaluation

dependent pd: pattern of

submissive/clinging beanie related to an excessive need to be taken care of

obsessive-compulsive PD: pattern of

preoccupation w orderliness, perfectionism, control

PD dx criteria: Cannot be better explained by

another mental disorder

PD dx criteria: pattern not due to the affects of a

substance

PD dx criteria: pattern not due to a general medical

condition (ex. tbi)

PD dx criteria: PDs should be listed in order of

importance (main complaint)

PD dx criteria: when individual has chronic psychiatric disorder that was preceded by pre-existing PD, should be recorded as

PD (Premorbid) (ex. for Schizophrenia, Schizotypal (Premorbid)