personality disorders

‘Personality disorders’ are defined by the NHS as “Conditions in which an individual differs significantly from an average person, in terms of how they think, perceive, feel or relate to others. Changes in how a person feels and distorted beliefs about other people can lead to odd behaviour, which can be distressing and may upset others.”

A diagnosis of a ‘personality disorder’ is an extremely distressing experience and a great deal of controversy surrounds the use of this term and the diagnosis itself. 75% of those diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder are women.

For 50 years, Survivors have been demanding a change to the diagnosis of ‘Borderline Personality Disorder’. Despite having no scientific validity, and demonstrably provoking the most discriminatory, judgmental reactions from clinicians in mental health care, it has persisted. The diagnosis produces such ‘testimonial injustice’ that it is incompatible with the core tasks of mental health care – compassion, understanding and help provision. In an increasingly ‘woke’ society, pathologising people based on discriminatory character sketches is a form of structural violence that has to be binned. This is something we can do today.
– Dr Jay Watts, Clinical Psychologist, Jan 2019

Our personality disorders Blogs

What crisis and acute mental health care is available to those with a ‘personality disorder’ diagnosis?

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Keir Harding finds little published evidence to support people with ‘personality disorder’ diagnoses when they are in crisis.

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Clinicians perspectives on gaps in service provision for people with complex emotional needs

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A group of UCL MSc students review a qualitative study on clinicians’ views and community care for people with complex emotional needs, and how best practice can be achieved.

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The term ‘borderline personality disorder’ is misunderstood by almost everyone; it needs to go

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Many people feel very strongly about the term ‘personality disorder’. It is not the adjective that troubles; it is the noun. ‘Disorder’ is used as from 1980 onwards every mental health diagnosis has been listed as a disorder even if the final word is not mentioned. You cannot make a mental diagnosis without using it, [read the full story…]

Does a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder help or harm? #BIGSPD23

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As we prepare for #BIGSPD23 in Glasgow (starting tomorrow), a psychiatrist and mental health occupational therapist explore a review of stigma occurring as a result of a borderline personality disorder diagnosis, coming to their own conclusions on the key messages.

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What’s the evidence for community interventions for ‘personality disorder’ (or complex emotional needs)? Not great

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Keir Harding and Hollie Berrigan provide a personal outlook on a scoping review exploring the efficacy of community treatments for ‘personality disorder’.

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People with complex emotional needs and their views of community mental health services

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Emmeline Lagunes Cordoba summarises a co-produced qualitative interview study on service user perspectives of community mental health services for people with complex emotional needs.

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Psychotherapeutic approaches and treatment efficacy for comorbid BPD and PTSD

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Natalie Kashirsky summarises a systematic review on optimising treatment for comorbid BPD (borderline personality disorder) and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).

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Youth mental health interventions: umbrella review presents efficacy and acceptability data

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In his debut blog, Nick Meader tackles a huge umbrella review of youth mental health interventions, which presents the efficacy and acceptability of 72 different approaches to help children and young people.

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DBT for BPD: how can benefits be maintained long-term?

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Dafni Katsampa and Francesca Payne summarise a qualitative study from the Republic of Ireland, which explores the long-term benefits of dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) for people diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD).

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Borderline personality disorder criteria and suicidality

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Steven Macdonald-Hart summarises a 10-year follow-up study from the US, which measures the relationship between borderline personality disorder and suicide attempts.

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