Personality Disorders Over Time

In Personality Disorders Over Time, Paris delivers what we have come to expect from him: a wise, evidence-based, valuable volume that informs, teaches, and guides us from the perspective of a clinical master. With balance and style, Paris reviews what we know about how patients with personality disorders fare, and what we still need to know. John M. Oldham, M.D., Professor and Chairman, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina; Executive Director, Institute of Psychiatry, Charleston, SC This is an important and innovative contribution to the study of personality disorder. Dr. Paris, a prolific contributor to the field, has produced an extensively referenced text that provides a comprehensive and critical account to how personality disorder changes over time, a topic with major theoretical and clinical significance. The volume is characteristic of Dr. Paris' approach: a refreshing perspective unfettered by doctrinaire assumptions and unsubstantial theoretical positions. Written in a concise, readable style, this book is rewarding reading for anyone interested in a longitudinal perspective on mental disorders. John Livesley, Professor of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia; Editor, Journal of Personality Disorders Joel Paris has written a very readable and useful book. He has the unique ability to present complex ideas in simple and understandable terms. He draws on many different sources, from genetics and biology to psychodynamics, behavior therapy, and child development to help us understand better the course of these illnesses over time. He distills the essential information from these various disciplines into a clinically useful approach designed to help reduce the chaos and confusion experienced by both patients and therapists in the treatment of these difficult and challenging patients. Kenneth R. Silk, M.D., Professor and Associate Chair, Clinical and Administrative Affairs, Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical School and Health System, Ann Arbor, Michigan

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.Treating personality disorders can be extremely frustrating for clinicians. As a result, many doctors get caught in a cycle of diagnosing and rediagnosing in an attempt to find an approach that works. In Personality Disorders Over Time: Precursors, Course, and Outcome, Joel Paris, M.D., proposes a better approach-one based on management rather than cure-that he developed while following a group of patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) for over 25 years. Paris believes that the key to effective treatment of personality disorders lies in understanding their progression over a lifetime. In Personality Disorders Over Time, he outlines a sound framework for treatment that features • A realistic long-term treatment approach that strives for gradual recovery with intermittent interventions• An examination of the progression of these disorders over time, including childhood precursors, course and outcome, and treatment• A general theory of personality disorders, including Axis I and Axis II cluster disorders• Suggestions for a broader, more accurate DSM classification reflecting the personality trait dimensions that underlie disorders 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.