ABSTRACT
Introduction ................................................................ 207 Why is this relevant for you? ........................................ 208 Assessment and diagnosis of personality disorder ......... 208 Types of personality disorders ...................................... 209
How common are personality disorders and what are their
features? ............................................................... 209 Summary ................................................................... 213 Further reading ........................................................... 213
Issues relating to dierent traits and types of personality, how these may be factors in increasing risk of mental illness and how they may modify its presentation have been discussed in Chapter 2. ere is no clear dividing line between the point where particular features suggest someone has a particular personality trait and the point where similar features suggest a diagnosis of personality disorder. Indeed, some would argue that the concept of a disorder of personality is inappropriate for something that may perhaps be seen as relating to traits on a continuum from mild to severe. There is also considerable debate about how far ‘treatment’ is eective and indeed whether it is appropriate to attempt to change what is a person’s essential personality. Indeed,
in Soviet Russia in the mid-twentieth century, those with dissident ideas, who disagreed with the communist state, were sometimes described by the authorities as suering from some form of mental disturbance, which could range from personality disturbance to mental illness, and were subsequently placed in mental institutions. e argument has become political in more ways than one. Successive UK government Home Secretaries have sought to make responsibility for people with ‘dangerous and psychopathic personality disorders’ the domain of mental health services. ey wish us, as mental health professionals, to assess risk, provide treatment and protect the public from such individuals. In the mind of the general public, it is oen the disturbed, impulsive, aggressive psychopath who seems to be mentally ill rather than those we as doctors may regard as much more ill.
