Understanding Personality Disorders: An Introduction

by Duane L. Dobbert

Personality-disordered people are not uncommon in our neighborhoods, workplaces, schools, or even our homes. They include people who are persistently paranoid, obsessive-compulsive, antisocial, or overly dependent. Most of them do not realize the hardships they create for themselves and their families. This book is an introductory guide for those who live and work around personality- disordered people, and for general readers seeking illustrations of the disorders.

Dobbert illustrates warning signs that can be missed and walks readers through scenarios that are common with personality-disordered people. He explains how such maladies might develop, and most important, how they can be successfully addressed.

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology, Reference

149 pages, Hardcover

First published January 30, 2007

Reviews

[ERIN · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wasn’t sure how many stars to give this!

Beginner text for someone with zero knowledge of personality disorders, I’d say. Obviously some of it is outdated because it’s 13 years old at the time that I am reading it, but I found some of the language and commentary to be a bit biased. For instance, there is some language in there about how every individual with a personality disorder leaves a string of victims behind them or something similar, and that was just bizarre and offensive.

Otherwise, decent introductory text despite badly needing an editor.

[Drew Van Gorder · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I think it was a good introductory text on personality disorders. The only reason I only gave it four stars was because I would have appreciated it if Dobbert had spent more time explaining which types of treatment are effective for each of the disorders. However, I'm a practicing clinician currently...so there's that.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book achieved its purpose in helping me to understand the basics of various personality disorders. The “scenarios” demonstrating the disorders were also very helpful. The only drawbacks were that the book was often redundant and that it was very poorly written. It is clear that no proofreader—much less, editor—ever looked at it.

[des · Rating 3 out of 5]

honestly it's good. Dobbert has done his research and has great scenarios for any student/post-graduate. however, I really wished he went more in depth on the personality disorders. it was good, but in a clinical aspect, it was quite surface level. I really wished he touched on HOW personality disorders develop.

[Jakob Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a bit outdated, but it would be good for somebody next to psychology and mental disorders. Basically gives a break down of the DSM4. Again, it is outdated so some information may be more up to date now since their DSM5 has been published.

[guernsey-island · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool to read about all the personality disorders when I would normally just read about a couple. Case studies were fun but some seemed cliche or exaggerated. Likely more informative to read Wikipedia articles for each PD. More typos and formatting errors than I would expect.

[Huda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great and an easy read. Provides great case examples and scenarios to aid with understanding. Really enjoyed it.

[Laurelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introductory book. It doesn't cover all personality disorders but the ones identified are easy to understand through the examples. A good place to start. A recommended introductory read.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently came upon this book while looking for more resources on bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. I was pleasantly surprised to discover the vast amount of personality disorders that were covered in this book and happy to admit that I learned a great deal in a short time. The author provided the reader with a small story, which served as an example of each disorder. After the story was given, the symptoms were listed and fully described in great detail. This allowed a significant amount of information to be broken down for the reader to understand. Some personalities that were covered were paranoid personality, schizoid, antisocial, borderline, histrionic, narcissistic, avoidant, dependent, and obsessive compulsive personality disorder. The book was published around 2007, but most of the information is still relative to today. It does not really go into medication, but focuses on the disorder itself.

I believe it is important to get as much information as you can when you are a parent to a special needs child. Although the medical field is coming out with more and more medications and therapies that are helpful, the foundation of the disorders itself has not changed. Publications like this book are always a good thing to have on hand or to read if one has the time. I strongly recommend this book to those that have a loved one with the above diagnoses.

[Luna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up at the library recently, and was pleasantly surprised that this book goes into many different personality disorders, and not just the B-cluster that are frequently written about (antisocial, borderline, histrionic and narcissistic). It was good to see schizoid and schizotypal discussed.

The book gives at least one scenario for each personality disorder, sometimes two for a different take (age, gender, etc). Each scenario hits each diagnostic criteria, and while it presents as an obvious personality type, they're not necessarily a stereotype. It's quite a fair presentation, I'd say.

One thing I did find disappointing is that while Dobbert does talk about treatment, he doesn't actually go into therapy and medication types for each personality disorder- just whether treatment is available and prognosis. I would have liked if that was delved into a little more.

[Samantha Penrose · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Somewhat misleading, but there is a disclaimer in the back...