Introduction

Personality Disorders
According to Linda Labelle, a personality disorder is identified as a pervasive pattern of experience and behaviour that is abnormal with respect to any two of the following: thinking, mood, personal relations, and the control of impulses. The character of a person is shown through his or her personality -- by the way an individual thinks, feels, and behaves. When the behaviour is inflexible, maladaptive, and antisocial, that individual may be diagnosed with a personality disorder.

Most personality disorders begin as problems with personal and character development during adolescence. Individuals with personality disorders experience a life that is not positive, proactive, or fulfilling. Not surprisingly, personality disorders are also associated with failures to reach potential. The American Psychiatric Association defines a personality disorder as an enduring pattern of inner experience and behaviour that deviates markedly from the expectation of the individual’s culture, is pervasive and inflexible, has an onset in adolescence or early adulthood, is stable over time, and leads to distress or impairment.