Disorders of Personality

Personality profiles can be so abnormal or problematic that they create clear difficulties in the person’s life, particularly in the domains of work and social relationships. Certain personality features related to poor adjustment and poor outcomes in life are described as personality disorders, such as the antisocial personality and the narcissistic personality. We believe that an understanding of ‘normal’ personality functioning can be enhanced by examining what can go wrong with personality. This is similar to the field of medicine, in which an understanding of normal physiological functioning is often illuminated by the study of disorders and disease.