Individuals with personality disorders often cause a great deal of difficulty in their lives as well as in the lives of others. Other people tend to find the behavior of these individuals confusing, exasperating, and unpredictable and in a lot of ways even unacceptable — although rarely as bizarre or out of contact with reality as that of people with psychotic disorders.

Some individuals with personality disorders experience a great deal of emotional suffering, although others do not. Their behavioral deviations are persistent and seem to be intrinsic to their personalities. They have difficulty taking part in mutually respectful and satisfying social relationships. Whatever the particular trait patterns affected individuals have developed (obstinacy, covert hostility, suspiciousness or fear of rejection), these patterns color their reactions to each new situation and lead to a repetition of the same maladaptive behaviors. For instance, a dependent person may wear out a relationship with someone such as a spouse, by incessant and extraordinary demands such as never leaving them alone. After the partner leaves, the person may immediately get into another dependent relationship and repeat the behavior. Thus, personality disorders are marked by considerable consistency over time, with no apparent learning from previous troubles.

Diagnosis of Personality Disorders:

The essential feature of a personality disorder is an enduring pattern of inner experience and behavior that deviates markedly from the expectations of the individual’s culture. A person can be diagnosed with personality disorders if he/she meets the following criteria:

The unusual personality trait must be manifested in at least two of the following areas: cognition, affectivity, interpersonal functioning or impulse control.

This enduring pattern must be inflexible and pervasive across a broad range of personal and social situations.

This pattern leads to clinically significant distress.

The pattern is stable and of long duration and its onset can be traced back at least to adolescence or early adulthood.

The pattern is not better accounted for as a manifestation or consequence of another mental disorder.