# 187 - 6D10.1 Moderate personality disorder

# 6D10.1 Moderate personality disorder

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Personality disorders and related traits
Moderate personality disorder
Essential (required) features
• All general diagnostic requirements for personality disorder are met.
• Disturbances affect multiple areas of functioning of the self (e.g. stability and coherence of 
identity, self-worth, self-direction; see Box 6.2) and are of moderate severity.
• There are marked problems in most interpersonal relationships, and the performance of 
most expected social and occupational roles is compromised to some degree.
• Relationships are likely to be characterized by conflict, avoidance, withdrawal or extreme 
dependency (e.g. few friendships maintained, persistent conflict in work relationships 
and consequent occupational problems, romantic relationships characterized by serious 
disruption or inappropriate submissiveness).
• Specific manifestations of personality disturbance are generally of moderate severity (see 
the examples below).
• Moderate personality disorder is sometimes associated with harm to self or others.
• Moderate personality disorder is associated with marked impairment in personal, family, 
social, educational, occupational or other important areas of functioning, although 
functioning in circumscribed areas may be maintained.
Examples of specific personality disturbances in moderate personality disorder
Note: this list of examples is not exhaustive, and it is not intended to suggest that all items will be 
present in any single individual.
• The individual’s sense of self may become incoherent in times of crisis.
• The individual has considerable difficulty maintaining positive self-esteem. Alternatively, 
the individual has an unrealistically positive self-view that is not modified by evidence to 
the contrary.
• The individual exhibits poor emotion regulation in the face of setbacks, often becoming 
highly upset and giving up easily. Alternatively, the individual may persist unreasonably in 
pursuit of goals that have no chance of success.
• The individual may exhibit little genuine interest in or efforts towards sustained 
employment.
• Major limitations in the ability to understand and appreciate others’ perspectives hinder 
development of close and mutually satisfying relationships.
• There are persistent problems in those relationships that do exist. They may be characterized 
by frequent, serious and volatile conflict, or be significantly unbalanced (e.g. the individual 
is highly dominant or highly submissive).
• Under stress there are marked distortions in the individual’s situational and interpersonal 
appraisals. There may be mild dissociative states or psychotic-like beliefs or perceptions 
(e.g. paranoid ideas).
6D10.1
Personality disorders and related traits | General diagnostic requirements for personality disorder