Hello and welcome to the zero to finals podcast.

My name is Tom and in this episode I'm going to be talking to you about personality disorder.

And you can find written notes on this topic at zero to finals.com slash personality disorder or in the psychiatry section of the

Zero to Finals More Medicine book. And you can find questions to train your knowledge on this content

and help you remember the information for longer at members.0.0.com. So let's get straight into it.

Personality disorder covers a variety of maladaptive personality traits that cause significant

psychosocial distress and interfere with functioning.

These traits remain relatively persistent in the person over time

and they impact their life and relationships.

Personality disorders are characterized by patterns of thought,

behavior and emotion that differ from what is normally expected.

This leads to difficult relationships, reduced quality of life, and poor physical health.

Personality disorders are thought to result from a combination of genetic and environmental factors.

Patients often have a history of early childhood trauma and difficult circumstances.

Let's talk about the presentation.

A wide range of symptoms and behaviours occur with personality disorders.

The symptoms typically emerge during the teenage or early adult years.

Symptoms vary depending on the type and the individual.

For example, possible symptoms in someone with borderline personality disorder

include strong and intense emotions, for example, anger, emotional instability with rapidly

changing emotions, difficulty with managing emotions, difficulty with maintaining relationships,

a poor sense of identity, feelings of emptiness, fear of abandonment,

...