Diagnosis of personality disorders: a case study.
In this article, I report a case highlighting diagnostic uncertainty about psychopathology on both Axes I and II. It concerns in part the problem of comorbidity in relation to diagnostic classification of Axis II personality disorders. After commenting on these uncertainties in relation to categorical and dimensional models, I also consider a psychoanalytic explanation to illustrate an example in which a theoretical model informs diagnostic interviewing. I emphasize how the clinical information that unfolds from an interview based on this theoretical model generates inferences about psychopathology that extend clinical understanding beyond the formal diagnostic assessment of Axes I and II disorders and assessment by self-report.
Silverstein
Marshall L
ML
Department of Psychology, Long Island University, Brookville, NY 11548, USA. msilver@liu.edu
D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011582:Psychological Theory