ICD-11 fundamentally reconceptualised personality disorders by replacing categorical subtypes with a dimensional model. Which is the correct description of this model?
- A 10 categorical personality disorders retained, with severity axis added
- B Personality disorders eliminated and subsumed under mood disorders
- C Big-Five personality traits directly replace all categorical diagnoses
- D A single 'personality disorder' diagnosis with a severity dimension (mild/moderate/severe) and five optional trait domain qualifiers (negative affectivity, detachment, dissociality, disinhibition, anankastia), with borderline pattern retained as an additional qualifier ✓
Explanation
ICD-11 replaced the 10 categorical personality disorder types of ICD-10 with a single 'personality disorder' diagnosis, dimensionally qualified by severity (mild, moderate, severe, with 'personality difficulty' as a subclinical level) and five trait domains: negative affectivity, detachment, dissociality (antagonism), disinhibition, and anankastia (conscientiousness-related). The 'borderline pattern' is retained as an additional specifier given its clinical salience and treatment implications. This dimensional approach reduces comorbidity artefacts and aligns with evidence that personality pathology lies on a continuum rather than in discrete categories.
Reference: Kaplan & Sadock's Synopsis of Psychiatry, 11th ed.
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