Personality Disorder: Part II. Follow-up

Abstract

In a previous study (Liss, Welner and Robins, 1973), the hospital records of 212 patients who received a diagnosis of personality disorder other than antisocial personality were studied. The clinical information about these patients was used to arrive at an established psychiatric diagnosis based upon the rigorous diagnostic criteria designed for research (Feighner, Robins, Guze, Woodruff, Winokur, and Munoz, 1972). In 118 cases (56 per cent) the clinical symptoms and the course of the disorder met the required diagnostic criteria for one or more of the established psychiatric diagnoses. The remaining 94 patients (44 per cent) had too few symptoms to meet these criteria.

Stability of Diagnoses in Various Psychiatric Disorders: A Study of Long-Term Course

“…The difficulty in distinguishing between neurotic disorders, personality disor ders, and psychogenic reactions is well known [17,23]. Diagnosing a personality disorder highlights the difference between observation and interpretation [30], Weiner et al [31] speculated that personality disorders are often diagnosed because symptoms do not suffice for another diagnosis and/or in order to avoid diagnosing a more serious disorder. In the present study, patients with a personality dis order rarely shifted to diagnostic groups of a more serious disorder.…”