Key points

Disliking parts of your personality doesn’t mean you’re “disordered.”

Personality exists on a continuum, not in fixed boxes.

With practice, traits can shift to better fit your goals.

This week, I’m at a professional conference dedicated to understanding and treating personality disorders . Attending talks and clinical workshops in this space got me thinking about how tricky it is to draw the line between personality and personality disorder.

After all, we all have personalities, our enduring patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving. And those patterns can get a lot of us into trouble, not just people living with personality disorders.

Who decides when a trait crosses the line from “This isn’t serving me” to “This is maladaptive”?

The Problem With Categories

For th

See Full Page