Personality structure as an organizing construct.
For a number of reasons, including the high levels of co-occurrence (or comorbidity) between personality and other mental disorders, doubts about the stability of what was thought to be a persistent diagnosis, and a growing tendency to think of personality and mental state disorders as being part of a spectrum of disorders, many argue that a separate axis for personality disorder is now unjustified in psychiatric classification, and that DSM-V should go back to classifying personality disturbances with other mental disorders in Axis I (as has been consistently maintained in the ICD classification). It is argued here that such a move would be a major mistake, as the construct of personality, assessed in its three components of personality function, traits, and organization, offers an integrating perspective for the clinician that helps to both understand and predict the future of mental disturbance and gives an extra dimension to clinical practice.
Tyrer
Peter
P
Centre for Mental Health, Imperial College, London, UK. p.tyrer@imperial.ac.uk
D001519:Behavior; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D004644:Emotions; D006801:Humans; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology