Nothing About Us Without Us: Centering Lived Experience as the AMPD Moves Forward

The alternative model for personality disorders (AMPD) is approaching readiness for inclusion in the main section of the DSM, yet research informing its development has largely overlooked the perspectives of those who receive personality disorder diagnoses. This commentary argues that centering lived experience is essential for evaluating the AMPD's diagnostic language, given evidence that certain trait terminology (notably "manipulativeness") is perceived as highly stigmatizing. The AMPD's Criterion A, which emphasizes personality functioning rather than dispositional traits, may offer a less stigmatizing framework-a possibility supported by emerging lived experience accounts. Building on recent work by Sharp, Cano, Masland, Navarré, and colleagues, this commentary proposes research priorities for integrating lived experience perspectives into AMPD evaluation and considers whether the ICD-11‧s sub-diagnostic "personality difficulty" category could serve both clinical and destigmatizing functions if adopted within the AMPD.