PERSONALITY-DISORDERS IN DYSTHYMIA

This study compared rates of DSM-III-R personality disorders between p atients with dysthymia and episodic major depression in order to clari fy the relationship between chronic depression, episodic forms of mood disorders, and personality pathology. Fifty-one percent of the dysthy mics and 42% of the episodic depressives had a personality disorder di agnosis. The most common personality disorders in the dysthymia group were avoidant and NOS (not otherwise specified) disorders. The most co mmon personality disorders in the episodic major depression group were borderline and NOS. These data suggest that dysthymics and episodic d epressives have comparable overall rates of personality disorders but qualitatively differ from each other on the distribution of personalit y pathology. The high rates of anxious cluster diagnosis in the dysthy mic group may reflect diagnostic overlap between dysthymia and Cluster C personality disorders.