Fatal Flaws

From psychoanalysis to neurotransmitters, from underlying causes to practical applications, this unique volume will help the health care community and the public understand a group of mental disorders that inflict untold pain on those who suffer from them, untold frustration on their health care professionals, and untold damage on their families, friends, and business associates. Many books can enlighten; this engrossing work can also save families, careers, and lives. Nada L Stotland, M.D., M.P.H., Professor of Psychiatry and Obstetrics/Gynecology, Rush Medical College, Chicago, Illinois Fatal Flaws is wonderfully educational and well written. I have also convinced 4 others including Department Chairs, administrators, etc. to buy copies. I realize that it was probably not Dr. Yudofsky's intent to have the book read as an aid to administration, however often we have steered away from personal relationships with individuals with these types of problems, but cannot do so in the work place. Niloo M. Edwards, M.D., Chairman of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI I recommend Fatal Flaws to anyone attempting to understand some of the devastating experiences they have had in the past, or may be going through at present. It is certainly a wonderful starting point for a general study of personality disorders. I greatly appreciate Dr. Yudofsky's hard work and his effort to make it readable for the general public. Many of my psychology students have expressed an interest in moving on to a career that involves psychology or psychiatry. Much of this has to do with expert authors who help make the course better by providing people like me with the ammunition to better equip these young people. Jim Rojas, El Rancho High School, Pico Rivera, California Fatal Flaws was fascinating to read, especially the detailed and beautifully written portrait of Shelby Fairmont. Dr. Yudofsky enables the reader to be an unseen observer of the therapeutic process in the hands of a colorful patient and an extraordinarily gifted psychiatrist. He has given the best description I have seen of the anatomy of healing. The book should be of value and interest to a wide range of readers. It should certainly be must reading for anyone entering the field and for those whose lives are enmeshed in any of the destructive relationships Dr. Yudofsky describes and analyzes so superbly. Rabbi Samuel Egal Karff, Congregation Beth Israel, Houston, Texas

Part psychiatric textbook and part self-help manual for patients and clients, Fatal Flaws reviews comprehensively the course, treatment, genetics, biology, psychology, and destructive consequences of hysterical (histrionic), narcissistic, antisocial, paranoid, obsessive-compulsive, addictive, borderline, and schizotypal personality disorders.

Featuring case vignettes from nearly 30 years of Dr. Yudofsky's clinical practice and incorporating the knowledge of gifted clinicians, educators, and research scientists with whom he has collaborated throughout that time, Fatal Flaws: Navigating Destructive Relationships With People With Disorders of Personality and Character uniquely captures the rapidly increasing body of clinical and research information about people with severe and persistent personality and character disorders.

Within these pages, the author brings to life the psychopathologies of personality and character disorders through vivid vignettes based on composites of his many patients and their most important relationships—while meticulously changing the identifying facts and relevant details to protect confidentiality.

Covering the clinical course, treatment, genetics, biology, psychology, and destructive consequences of hysterical (histrionic), narcissistic, antisocial, paranoid, obsessive-compulsive, addictive, borderline, and schizotypal personality disorders, Fatal Flaws stands out in the literature for these powerful reasons:

• It is written for an unusually broad audience, from mental health students and trainees of all disciplines, to highly experienced clinicians, to patients who suffer from or are in destructive relationships with people with personality disorders.
• It is a hybrid—part psychiatric textbook for clinicians and part self-help manual for patients and clients with personality and character disorders.
• It is designed to supplement treatment by providing patients with practical, evidence-based information about personality disorders and character flaws.
• It is particularly valuable to patients who are in psychotherapy, in part, because they are entangled in destructive relationships with people with disorders of personality and/or character.
• It is written in the first person, with the author directly communicating with a patient who either has a personality or character disorder or is in an important relationship with a person who has such a disorder.
• It is useful for people who are uncertain whether they or their loved ones have personality or character disorders, and who want to know more about these conditions and their treatments before making a decision about securing the help of a mental health professional.

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