Personality Disorders

Key points

• • A personality disorder is an enduring pattern of inner experience and behaviour that departs markedly from cultural expectations.
• • The pattern is stable and long-standing, begins by adolescence or early adulthood, and causes distress or problems in relationships and work.
• • They are grouped into three clusters: A (odd or eccentric), B (dramatic or erratic) and C (anxious or fearful).
• • Cluster B includes borderline personality disorder, with unstable moods and relationships, and antisocial personality disorder.
• • They are diagnosed from the long-term pattern, not from a single episode, and are distinguished from passing states of illness.