Personality Disorders Over Time: Precursors, Course, and Outcome

Treating personality disorders can be extremely frustrating for clinicians. As a result, many doctors get caught in a cycle of diagnosing and rediagnosing in an attempt to find an approach that works. In Personality Disorders Over Time: Precursors, Course, and Outcome, Joel Paris, M.D., proposes a better approach-one based on management rather than cure-that he developed while following a group of patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) for over 25 years.

Paris believes that the key to effective treatment of personality disorders lies in understanding their progression over a lifetime. In Personality Disorders Over Time, he outlines a sound framework for treatment that features • A realistic long-term treatment approach that strives for gradual recovery with intermittent interventions• An examination of the progression of these disorders over time, including childhood precursors, course and outcome, and treatment• A general theory of personality disorders, including Axis I and Axis II cluster disorders• Suggestions for a broader, more accurate DSM classification reflecting the personality trait dimensions that underlie disorders

Written in the first person, studded with clinical anecdotes, and filled with up-to-date literature references, Personality Disorders Over Time provides fascinating insights into these complicated disorders. It is an excellent resource for any clinician who wants to understand and provide more effective treatment to patients with personality disorders.

Joel Paris, M.D., is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University; Psychiatrist-in-Chief of the Health Centre at McGill University; and Research Associate at the SMBD-Jewish General Hospital, in Montreal, Quebec.