Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology
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Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol · Oct 2004
Personality disorders in the community: results from the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Well-being Part III. Relationships between specific type of personality disorder, Axis 1 mental disorders and physical conditions with disability and health consultations.
The aim of the present study was to examine in a national survey sample the risks of having a specific personality disorder (PD) and associations with gender, of having one or more physical conditions, of having one or more Axis 1 conditions, and of the severity (or degree) of disability. We also examined the association of specific PDs with having sought a consultation for health or mental health problems with a general practitioner (GP), a psychologist, or psychiatrist over the past 12 months. ⋯ The study reports findings from a nationwide survey and, as such, the data are less influenced by the selection and setting bias found in most other studies investigating these variables. The findings of the study do point to some specific PDs, such as borderline PD, being associated with greater Axis 1 psychopathology, disability and mental health consultations than others, such as anankastic PD. It appears that although anankastic PD in itself is associated with more disability than having No PD, it becomes significantly more disabling when it is associated with other comorbid PDs.