Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Aaron S. (USA) on February 10, 2012 at 8:33pm

I wonder when Pro-Social Personality Disorder is going to get on the DSM...

Permalink Reply by teslafaraday on February 11, 2012 at 10:47pm

A number of former personality disorders are being removed from the upcoming DSM-V (Paranoid, Schizoid, Histrionic and Dependent Personality Disorders). As the article states, there is no way to actually test for personality disorders. These sorts of diagnoses are left up to professional judgment, of which the accuracy varies wildly. Discovering a genetic component to personality not only gives us a deeper understanding of what exactly human personality is, but gives us the potential for a more concrete way to diagnose personality disorders. As a school psychologist, making diagnosis based solely on what I "think" makes me a bit squeamish (even if I am technically an expert in my field). Having well-researched tools/tests that give  more data on an individual makes a psychologist's evaluations and diagnoses all the more accurate, and far more likely to help the individual in question.