Field Guide to Personality Disorders

Rating:
Summary: Concise, accurate, fun to read overview
Review: This 186 page paperback is a wonderful synopsis of the more thorough text, Disordered Personalities, 2nd Ed. It should be in the office of every mental health professional. The book includes DSM-IV criteria, as well as a thorough overview of therapeutics, including etiology, ego defenses, therapeutic techniques, MSE, mnemonics, etc. The reader will find separate chapters describing 10 different disorders, as well as a discussion of the passive-aggressive individual, the "organic" personality, and multiple personality. The graphics and caricatures are simply wonderful! The information is current and accurate, and the price is very reasonable. Professionals and lay people alike will learn much from this gem, and have fun in the process! Highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: I am a medical student. This is a helpful Psychiatry adjunc
Review: This book is really good. If you are a medical school student like me and would like a book that explains the DSM IV disorder classifications, you would do very well with this book. For the lay person, this is a good book because it gives you an insight to the many different personalities--not jsut necessarily disorders. There are personality behaviors that everyone possess but are not to the severity of being considered a disorder. If you read this book, you will understand people much better. But you have to understand, not everyone who meets some or a few of the criteria of a particular disorder has the disorder. A person can have certain traits of a particular disorder (for example: passive-aggressive) without actually really having the disorder. It is a matter of degree and the number of criteria the person meets. A person can have passive-aggressive treats, but to have a diagnosis of "passive aggressive personality disorder," there needs to be more specific behaviors! It is all explained in the book.