Personality Disorders

This chapter provides a summary of what is known through systematic research concerning the differential diagnosis, epidemiology, assessment, comorbidity, course, etiology, pathophysiology, and treatment of personality disorders. The chapter begins with a discussion of issues that pertain to personality disorders in general, followed by a consideration of each of the 10 personality disorders provided with official recognition within the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (i.e., paranoid, schizoid, schizotypal, antisocial, borderline, histrionic, narcissistic, avoidant, dependent, and obsessive-compulsive), along with the two personality disorders included within an appendix to the diagnostic manual (i.e., passive-aggressive and depressive).