With personality disorders, the symptoms are woven comfortably (known as ego syntonic) into a person’s overall sense of themselves, usually appearing in late adolescence. One of the key differences in diagnosing in this area, then, is that instead of considering illness within a short-term period (of a year or less), social workers focus on a longer timeline.
Likewise, a personality disorder is rarely diagnosed after the first assessment. As a result, the approach to diagnosis differs—one aspect of personality disorders you will focus on in this Assignment.
• Identify the characteristics that could point to lifelong symptoms when a personality disorder is suspected.
• When you’re evaluating for personality disorders, how is your approach different than what you would use with other suspected disorders?
