Personality Disorders and Older Adults
Diagnosis, Assessment, and Treatment
Chapter One
Introduction to Personality
Disorders and Aging
Perplexing. Vexing. Bedeviling. Frustrating. Confusing.
Maddening. Exasperating! These are just a few of the
words clinicians commonly use to describe their interactions
with patients who have a personality disorder. Now,
on top of this already challenging clinical situation, add
in the common stressors associated with aging: physical
declines, social losses, reduced independence, financial
stressors, and cognitive declines. Adults with personality
disorders are woefully ill prepared to meet these challenges
of aging. Their interpersonal worlds are characterized by
dysfunction, conflict, distance, or chaos, and they often lack
the necessary social support networks that help buffer
stress. Intrapsychically, they arrive at later life with lifelong
coping deficits and, in most cases, diminished self-esteem
due to a lifetime of problems and failures. They are often
defeated and demoralized. Sadly, they can often b ... read full excerpt from Personality Disorders and Older Adults: Diagnosis, Assessment, and Treatment ebook
