Personality disorders ‘widespread’, say experts

Personality disorders are more widespread than previously thought. That’s the view of leading experts in the field who say the disorders are under recognised even though the numbers of people experiencing them is much higher than those with more well known mental health problems such as schizophrenia.

Professor Eddie Kane, Director of the Personality Disorder Institute at the Institute of Mental Health, University of Nottingham, told the BBC: “Although 4% is the generally accepted figures for prevalence some international studies have shown prevalence as high as 13%.

“But because personality disorder is not a disease it does not attract the sympathy that conditions such as schizophrenia does.”

A personality disorder is defined as a pattern of behaviour that deviates markedly from the individual’s culture.

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