Personality disorder is a psychiatric term and draws on a medical framework to try to understand human emotions, behaviour and distress. It refers to a group of 10 controversial mental health diagnoses. The precise meaning of each personality disorder is set out in the diagnostic criteria which are used to give someone a diagnosis; these are outlined in the diagnosis section of this website.
However, the flavour of what is meant by the term personality disorder can be understood by thinking about what we mean when we refer to ‘personality’. We are all individuals, and who we are and how others see us is often understood as our personality.
We each have a number of different personality traits and, although these change over time and depending on the situation we are in, we generally feel comfortable in recognising the traits that help give others a picture of who we are and the way that we interact with the world. So, for example, someone might be described as shy or outgoing, anxious or confident, reflective or energetic, generous or selfish, etc.
If these traits or characteristics become extreme and are causing distress and difficulties in a person’s life, a diagnosis of PD might be given. For example, rather than being shy, someone may feel so frightened in social situations that they avoid them all together and do not go out or mix with other people at all. Or someone may be so outgoing that they feel they need to be the centre of attention in social situations and find it difficult to build relationships as a result.
Personality disorders may be understood as personality traits becoming so intense that they cause significant distress, interfere with the way an individual wants to live their life, and have a negative effect on relationships with other people.
The term personality disorder is used to refer to people with an extremely broad range of experiences, difficulties and behaviours. Many people given the same diagnosis will have very different experiences and it is common for people to be given a diagnosis of more than one personality disorder.
Personality disorders are extremely controversial diagnoses provoking heated debate. There is disagreement about whether or not personality disorders exist as objective ‘disorders’ and whether it is useful way of understanding distress and the strategies people have developed to cope with that distress.
Throughout this website, we talk about people who have been given a diagnosis of personality disorder to acknowledge that it is a controversial diagnosis that many people reject. Equally, many people find it a helpful way of explaining and understanding their distress so that they do not feel so alone with it. For more information about the different views of personality disorder, please go to 'The Controversy of PD' section on this site.
There is also considerable debate about the causes of PD and how best to support people given a PD diagnosis or experiencing difficulties often associated with these diagnoses. We provide basic information here about a wide range of views and approaches. It is important to recognise there is no agreement about what is best and that different people will find different things helpful.
MIND have also produced an introductory booklet which can be downloaded from their website http://www.mind.org.uk/shop/booklets/diagnoses_treatment or can be ordered for £1 by phoning them on 0845 7660 163
