Developmental, structural, and clinical approach to narcissistic and antisocial personalities. 1991

D M Svrakic, and K McCallum, and P Milan
Washington University Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, St. Louis, MO 63110.

The conception of personality disorders (PDs) as distinct units of mental disorders is neither precise nor useful. At least some PDs, classified as separate units, reflect different behavioral expression of the same personality deviation. In this article we describe structural, developmental, and clinical continuum between relatively distinct entities of antisocial PD and narcissistic PD. The two disorders represent different endpoints sharing a borderline level of personality organization and pathological narcissism. We propose a spectrum relation for antisocial and narcissistic PD because the disorders tend to co-occur in the same individual and to run in the same family more often than expected by chance.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D009289 Narcissism A psychoanalytic term meaning self-love. Narcissisms
D009769 Object Attachment Emotional attachment to someone or something in the environment. Bonding (Psychology),Bonds, Emotional,Emotional Bonds,Object Relations,Symbiotic Relations (Psychology),Bonding, Psychological,Object Relationship,Psychological Bonding,Attachment, Object,Attachments, Object,Bond, Emotional,Bondings (Psychology),Emotional Bond,Object Attachments,Object Relation,Object Relationships,Relation, Object,Relation, Symbiotic (Psychology),Relations, Object,Relations, Symbiotic (Psychology),Relationship, Object,Relationships, Object,Symbiotic Relation (Psychology)
D001883 Borderline Personality Disorder A personality disorder marked by a pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts. (DSM-IV) Personality Disorder, Borderline,Disorder, Borderline Personality,Borderline Personality Disorders,Disorders, Borderline Personality,Personality Disorders, Borderline
D003674 Defense Mechanisms Unconscious process used by an individual or a group of individuals in order to cope with impulses, feelings or ideas which are not acceptable at their conscious level; various types include reaction formation, projection and self reversal. Mechanisms, Defense
D004532 Ego The conscious portion of the personality structure which serves to mediate between the demands of the primitive instinctual drives, (the id), of internalized parental and social prohibitions or the conscience, (the superego), and of reality. Self,Egos
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000987 Antisocial Personality Disorder A personality disorder whose essential feature is a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood. The individual must be at least age 18 and must have a history of some symptoms of CONDUCT DISORDER before age 15. (From DSM-IV, 1994). Antisocial Behavior,Deviant Behavior,Dyssocial Behavior,Personality Disorder, Antisocial,Psychopathic Personality,Sociopathic Personality,Antisocial Personality,Antisocial Behaviors,Antisocial Personalities,Antisocial Personality Disorders,Behavior, Antisocial,Behavior, Deviant,Behavior, Dyssocial,Behaviors, Antisocial,Behaviors, Deviant,Behaviors, Dyssocial,Deviant Behaviors,Disorder, Antisocial Personality,Disorders, Antisocial Personality,Dyssocial Behaviors,Personalities, Antisocial,Personalities, Psychopathic,Personalities, Sociopathic,Personality Disorders, Antisocial,Personality, Antisocial,Personality, Psychopathic,Personality, Sociopathic,Psychopathic Personalities,Sociopathic Personalities
D012649 Self Concept Persons' view of themselves. Self Esteem,Self Perception,Self Confidence,Self-Perception,Concept, Self,Confidence, Self,Esteem, Self,Perception, Self,Perceptions, Self,Self Esteems,Self Perceptions,Self-Perceptions
D012931 Social Environment The aggregate of social and cultural institutions, forms, patterns, and processes that influence the life of an individual or community. Social Context,Environment, Social,Social Ecology,Context, Social,Contexts, Social,Ecologies, Social,Ecology, Social,Environments, Social,Social Contexts,Social Ecologies,Social Environments
D013475 Superego The component of the personality associated with ethics, standards, and self-criticism - the "conscience". It is derived mainly from identification with parents and parent substitutes. Superegos

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