Personality Disorders over Time: Precursors, Course, and Outcome - Softcover

Treating personality disorders can be extremely frustrating for clinicians. Because these disorders respond poorly to conventional treatments, doctors often ignore their chronic nature, dismiss previous treatment failures, and rediagnose the patient according to the latest trends and theories. The patient disappears temporarily, only to return in the midst of a crisis, and the cycle begins again.

Joel Paris has devoted his career to studying patients with personality disorders, and he believes that the key to effective treatment lies in understanding the progression of these disorders over a lifetime. In Personality Disorders Over Time: Precursors, Course, and Outcome, he proposes a sound framework for treatment based in part on his study of patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) for over 25 years. Emphasizing management rather than cure, Paris outlines a realistic, long-term treatment approach that strives for gradual recovery with intermittent interventions. Features include a general theory of personality disorders, including Axis I and Axis II cluster disorders, and a special emphasis on strategies for helping patients manage BPD.

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.