PD is characterized by inappropriate and faulty coping styles. Personality disorders are results of imperfect personality development and reflect patterns of the person's attempts to cope with the difficulties.
DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, Fourth Edition), defines a PD as an enduring pattern of inner experience and behaviour that differs markedly from the expectations of the individual's culture, is pervasive and inflexible, has an onset in adolescence or early adulthood, is stable over time, and leads to distress or impairment. PDs are a long-standing and maladaptive pattern of perceiving and responding to other people and to stressful circumstances.
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