Problems in the classification of personality disorder

Problems in the classification of personality disorder 1 The major clinical syndromes in psychiatry have shown themselves amenable to measurement and classification. Through the stimulus of coordination and collaboration involved in the preparation of the International Classification of Disease (LCD) (World Health Organisation, 1978) and the American Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) (American Psychiatric Association, 1980) we are now moving towards a common language and understanding of the main psychiatric syndromes. Disorders of personality, on the other hand, have proved much more resistant to satisfactory classification. For many years there has been an embarrassing failure to achieve common definitions that would be acceptable in both clinical and research practice. Some of these difficulties have been highlighted in recent years by the development of structured interview schedules for the assessment of personality. Although the problems may at times seem insuperable they need to be overcome before the label of' personality disorder' can be stripped of its pejorative implications and given equivalent status with the major clinical syndromes in psychiatry.