TABLE 4-2 - General Diagnostic Criteria for Personality Disorders

General Diagnostic Criteria for Personality Disorders

Personality disorder patients evidence an enduring pattern of inner experience and behavior, established by adolescence or early adulthood, that:

1. Deviates markedly from cultural expectations
2. Is inflexible and personally and socially pervasive
3. Causes distress or social or work impairment
4. Is a stable pattern of experience and behavior of long duration ("stably unstable")
5. Cannot be explained by another mental illness
6. Is not caused by substance use or medical condition

NOTE: Individuals with personality disorders usually maintain intact reality testing. However, they may have transient psychotic symptoms when stressed by real (or imagined) loss or frustration. Personality disorders are different from personality traits that are typically adaptive, culturally acceptable, and do not cause significant distress or impairment.
Source: Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 4th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association, 1994:327.