Compulsive personality traits affecting aeronautical adaptability in a naval aviator: a case report

This is a case report of a male naval aviator who demonstrated compulsive personality traits which adversely affected the performance of his duties as a pilot trainee, and later, as a naval flight officer. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-III-R) uses the term obsessive-compulsive to describe two conditions. A review of terminology is undertaken to present the reader with the distinguishing features of the personality disorder versus the anxiety disorder. The anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, is incompatible with safe performance of aviation duties. Obsessive-compulsive personality, on the other hand, describes a point on a continuum where useful, adaptive compulsive traits may become abnormally exaggerated and maladaptive, thus interfering with the aviator's normal routine, occupational functioning, relationships with others, and aviation safety.