Personality Disorders

A personality disorder is defined as an enduring pattern of inner experience and behaviour that deviates markedly from the expectations of an individual's culture, is pervasive and inflexible, has an onset in adolescence or early adulthood, is stable over time, and leads to distress and impairment.

Personality disorders can be understood in terms of interpersonal styles which are chronic. In relation to others, clients with personality disorder habitually move or place themselves against others (for example, antisocial), towards others (for example, dependent), away from others (for example, paranoid and schizoid), below others (for example, obsessive compulsive), above others (for example, narcissistic), or show an impulsive mix of all five styles (for example, borderline). These are the ways a person with personality disorder relates to significant others in their life, and to society and the world as a whole.