Affective disorders, personality and personality disorders

The article deals with the complex conceptual history and current concepts on the relationship between personality, personality disorders and affective disorders. It is discussed whether these concepts represent distinct clinical entities or whether they lie on a continuum.

We reviewed the classical literature from the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries as well as analysed recent empirical data in order to summarize the current knowledge on this topic with respect to its historical origin. As a particular example, the position of the depressive personality disorder is evaluated.

Considerable heterogeneity can be seen, both theoretically and empirically. The two major concepts are based either on a continuum model or favour distinct clinical entities, corresponding to a more dimensional or category-orientated recording method.

The relationship between personality disorders and affective disorders is still unclear and is a highly debated issue. There is as yet no consensus, but a certain shift to dimensional models can be recognized.