184 - Personality disorders and related traits

Personality disorders and related traits

553 Personality disorders and related traits 6D10.0 Personality disorders and related traits Mild personality disorder. Personality refers to an individual’s characteristic way of behaving and experiencing life, and of perceiving and interpreting themselves, other people, events and situations. Personality disorder is a marked disturbance in personality functioning, which is nearly always associated with considerable personal and social disruption. The central manifestations of personality disorder are impairments in functioning of aspects of the self (e.g. identity, self-worth, capacity for self-direction) and/or problems in interpersonal functioning (e.g. developing and maintaining close and mutually satisfying relationships, understanding others’ perspectives, managing conflict in relationships). Impairments in self-functioning and/or interpersonal functioning are manifested in maladaptive (e.g. inflexible or poorly regulated) patterns of cognition, emotional experience, emotional expression and behaviour. The following diagnostic requirements for personality disorder first present a set of essential features, all of which must be present to diagnose a personality disorder. Once the diagnosis of a personality disorder has been established, it should be described in terms of its level of severity: Moderate personality disorder. Severe personality disorder. Personality disorder, severity unspecified. Also listed in this grouping is: QE50.7 Personality difficulty Personality difficulty is not classified as a mental disorder but rather is listed in the grouping of problems associated with interpersonal interactions in Chapter 24 on factors influencing health status or contact with health services. Personality disorder and personality difficulty can be further described using five trait domain specifiers. These describe the characteristics of the individual’s personality that are most prominent and that contribute to personality disturbance. As many as necessary to describe personality functioning should be applied. 6D10.1 6D10.2 6D10.Z Personality disorders and related traits