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Surprising Science —

Personality Disorders to Be Cut

Several types of personality disorders will be dropped from the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. But narcissistic personality disorder will remain. 
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What’s the Latest Development?

“The American Psychiatric Association announced Thursday that the framework for personality disorders in DSM-5 will be a ‘hybrid’ model that is substantially different from how personality disorders are diagnosed currently. The committee working on the personality disorders chapter of the DSM-5, which is due to be published in 2013, has proposed six types of disorders: antisocial, avoidant, borderline, narcissistic, obsessive/compulsive and schizotypal. They have proposed dropping paranoid, histrionic, schizoid and dependent personality disorders.”

What’s the Big Idea?

The new model is less rigid than the existing diagnostic model. It is designed to reflect that behavior can change over time while personality traits tend to remain stable. “In the past, we viewed personality disorders as binary. You either had one or you didn’t,” said Dr. Andrew Skodol, chairman of the DSM work group on personality disorders, in a news release. “But now we understand that personality pathology is a matter of degree.” The American Psychiatric Assn. also announced that a public comment period on DSM-5 proposals has been extended through July 15.

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Barack Obama – Narcissist or Merely Narcissistic?
Obama’s early life was decidedly chaotic and replete with traumatic and mentally bruising dislocations. Mixed-race marriages were even less common then. His parents went through a divorce when he was an infant (two years old). Pathological narcissism is a reaction to prolonged abuse and trauma in early childhood or early adolescence. The source of the abuse or trauma is immaterial: the perpetrators could be dysfunctional or absent parents, teachers, other adults, or peers.
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