Disordered Personalities 2ed

Disordered Personalities — Setond Edition
Author's Foreword
Disordered Personalities was my first book. I wrote it because it al¬
lowed me to combine two of my passions — teaching and humor. I am
involved in both undergraduate and postgraduate medical education
and have been increasingly aware of the need to find new ways of
teaching psychiatry. Given the information overload students face, I
have endeavored to make educational material both interesting and
comprehensible.
Throughout my studies and teaching, I have found humor to be a most
effective and enjoyable way of encouraging learning. For this reason, I
have used this as an educational enhancement in this book. Adding
levity makes concepts clearer and increases retention by adding a
positive association to the material. I feel that humor helps achieve a
sense of balance and perspective that is essential to include when
teaching clinical subjects.
Disordered Personalities was written to provide a succinct, practical
and readable overview of personality disorders at an intermediate level.
This book was designed to be used by students for course study, dur¬
ing clinical rotations and for exam review. Up to twenty-five different
aspects of each DSM-IV personality disorder are presented per chap¬
ter to give readers the ability to recognize these conditions, under¬
stand how they develop, and have an appreciation for the different
types of therapy.
The caricatures were drawn to add a visual element to the understand¬
ing of these disorders. In the illustration at the beginning of the indi¬
vidual personality chapters, the object on the table and the painting
behind the chair change to reflect aspects of the topic being pre¬
sented. Where possible, I developed a mnemonic that further reflects
features of the personality disorder it summarizes.
The illustrations and mnemonics were not included out of disrespect or
disregard for those who suffer from personality disorders. In fact, it is
quite the opposite. These conditions are among the most difficult to
teach, and I feel these added aspects aid both comprehension and
recall. Similarly, the extra humor pages at the end of the chapters were
included to add practical examples of how these conditions are mani¬
fested in everyday situations.