ABSTRACT
However, it has long been recognized by psychiatric clinicians that patients with current DSM-IV (1) Axis I disorders (e.g., significant disorders that bring patients to clinicians’ attention) often behave in maladaptive ways similar to those with personality disorders. In the many patients who meet comorbidity criteria on Axis II (where personality disorders or problematic personality traits are coded), resolution of the Axis I disorder is often associated with improvement or even resolution of the “Axis II” symptoms. Other patients are relatively free of psychiatric symptoms at baseline but under conditions of extreme stress develop behaviors otherwise associated with enduring personality disorders. This observation has led to the proposal of a new syndrome, stress-induced personality disorder (2), which is similar to “personality change” previously described across five domains: affect, impulse regulation, attitudes toward self, attitudes toward others, and social/interpersonal interactions (3).
