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Personality Disorder and Psychiatric Illness in General Practice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Patricia R. Casey  and
Peter Tyrer
Patricia R. Casey*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University College, Cork, Ireland
Peter Tyrer
Affiliation:
Senior Lecturer (Early Intervention Service), St Charles' Hospital, Exmoor Street, London W10
*
∗Correspondence
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Abstract

In a one-year prevalence study of conspicuous psychiatric morbidity in two group general practices, one urban and the other rural, personality disorder was diagnosed in 5.3% by the GP and in 5.6% by the psychiatrist, but this increased to 28% when personality disorder was assessed using a structured interview. The prevalence of personality disorder was higher in the urban practice than in the rural one but there was no consistent association between personality disorder and mental state disorder, with the exception of alcohol abuse and dependence. The high rate of personality disorder found using the interview schedule is likely to be a true finding, and failure to recognise this hidden morbidity is important in both general and psychiatric practice.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 156 , Issue 2 , February 1990 , pp. 261 - 265
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1990

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