Personality disorders could be more effectively diagnosed by
identifying and targeting the disrupted neurobiological systems
where the disorders originate, report Cornell researchers. The
way that these mental illnesses are now classified -- based on
particular patterns of thought and behavior -- is misguided and
has little hard evidence to support it, reports Cornell
neuroscientist Richard Depue and his colleague in a special
issue of the Journal of International Review of Psychiatry
(23:3). "The behavioral features used to diagnose personality
disorders do not coalesce into coherent disorders in any
research," says Depue, professor of human development in the
College of Human Ecology, who co-authored the article with
graduate student Yu Fu. "As currently defined, the different
personality disorders have overlapping behavioral symptoms that
also merge imperceptibly with normal behavior. A diagnosis
should define a coherent behavioral pattern and predict a
particular course, prognosis and treatment. No person