Questions and Answers
Current behavior of patients can be confidently interpreted as reflective of their personality.
False
Personality tests are primarily useful in clinical practice when assessing patients with mental disorders.
False
Knowledge of personality is considered unimportant when diagnosing disorders.
False
It is essential to use theoretical personality factors for effective clinical assessment.
Signup and view all the answers
Assessing personality is integral to making decisions about treatment.
Signup and view all the answers
Reliable accounts of past behavior are unnecessary for judging a patient's personality.
Signup and view all the answers
The assessment of personality should only be done when a personality disorder is suspected.
Signup and view all the answers
Assessments based on subjective descriptions can aid in creating a unique profile for each patient.
Signup and view all the answers
Philippe Pinel used the term moral insanity to describe patients with delusions.
Signup and view all the answers
The moral treatment developed by the Tuke family emphasized ethical instruction.
Signup and view all the answers
Henry Maudsley believed that individuals with antisocial personality disorder had no capacity for true moral feeling.
Signup and view all the answers
Kurt Schneider contributed to the understanding of psychopathic personality by defining it narrowly.
Signup and view all the answers
The term 'psychopathic disorder' was narrowly defined in the 1959 Mental Health Act as involving significant impairment of intelligence.
Signup and view all the answers
The term 'dangerous and severe personality disorder' (DSPD) primarily includes women with antisocial personality disorder.
Signup and view all the answers
Julius Koch introduced the concept of psychopathic inferiority, which was later replaced by personality disorder.
Signup and view all the answers
The distinction of 'treatability' in the 1959 Act was applied to all mental disorders.
Signup and view all the answers
The 2007 amendment to the 1983 Mental Health Act removed the 'treatability' requirement for psychopathic disorder.
Signup and view all the answers
The term 'psychopathic personality' is widely accepted without any ambiguity.
Signup and view all the answers
Abnormal personalities are recognized due to their unique set of characteristics.
Signup and view all the answers
The statistical criterion for defining abnormal personalities is solely qualitative.
Signup and view all the answers
The ICD-9 and ICD-10 both describe personality disorders as disturbances that can directly result from brain disease.
Signup and view all the answers
Social criterion is based on the suffering caused to individuals or others by abnormal personalities.
Signup and view all the answers
Enduring personality change can occur as a result of severe mental disorders, but must last a minimum of 2 months.
Signup and view all the answers
ICD-10 includes a classification for changes in personality resulting from organic disease of the brain.
Signup and view all the answers
Victims of enduring personality change after catastrophic experiences typically display trustful and social behavior.
Signup and view all the answers
Management plans for individuals with personality disorders should focus solely on managing their weaknesses.
Signup and view all the answers
Personality disorders are often evident from childhood or adolescence and persist into adulthood.
Signup and view all the answers
In DSM-5, personality change due to another medical condition is categorized separately from ICD-10.
Signup and view all the answers
Study Notes
Assessment of Personality
- Everyday personality assessments are unreliable in clinical practice due to illness factors affecting behavior.
- Confident judgments of personality should be based on reliable accounts of past behavior from multiple informants.
- Personality assessment instruments may mislead in the presence of mental disorders and often neglect clinically relevant traits.
- Personality assessment plays a critical role in aetiology, diagnosis, treatment, and establishing therapeutic relationships.
- Descriptive terms derived from recognized personality disorder characteristics aid in understanding unique patient features.
Concept of Abnormal Personality
- Abnormal personalities, like paranoid types, show patterns of extreme characteristics without a clear distinction from normality.
- Classification of abnormal personality requires criteria for inclusion, which can be controversial and varies between statistical and social approaches.
Statistical Criterion
- This approach defines abnormal personality as quantitative deviations from normality, using cut-off scores.
- While it parallels intelligence abnormalities and remains non-judgmental, its clinical practicality is uncertain.
Social Criterion
- Abnormal personalities are characterized by causing personal suffering or distress to others.
- Though subjective and less precise, this criterion is more applicable in clinical settings.
Personality Disorders
- Defined by ICD-9 as severe disturbances not resulting from brain diseases, impacting multiple personality areas and often linked to distress and social disruption.
- Typically present from childhood or adolescence and persist throughout adulthood, influencing occupational and social performance.
- Management should leverage individual strengths for better outcomes.
Personality Change
- Profound personality changes can occur due to brain injury, mental disorders (e.g., schizophrenia), or extreme stressful experiences.
- ICD-10 categorizes changes related to organic disorders and distinguishes between enduring changes post-illness and post-catastrophic experiences.
- Diagnostic criteria require persistence of changes for at least two years linked to specific experiences.
Historical Development
- The concept of abnormal personality has roots in psychiatry since the 19th century, with early terms like "moral insanity" reflecting non-intellectually based disorders.
- Various terms evolved, including "psychopathic personality" and "psychopathic inferiority," shaping current understanding.
- The Mental Health Act has influenced the perception and categorization of personality disorders, including recent shifts in treatment approaches and terminologies.
- Confusion persists due to the ambiguous nature of terms like "psychopathic personality," with "personality disorder" being the preferred contemporary label.
Studying That Suits You
Use AI to generate personalized quizzes and flashcards to suit your learning preferences.
Description
Explore the key concepts of personality assessment as discussed in Chapter 3. This quiz emphasizes the differences between everyday assessments and clinical practice. Understand how current behavior may not always reflect habitual personality traits, especially in patients.
