Personality disorders and depression: Comorbidity

Depression and comorbid personality disorders relate to one another in thre e distinct ways: 1) personality disorders may precede the development of de pression and render an individual vulnerable to depression; 2) depression m ay precede the personality disorder and foster the development of the perso nality disorder 3) there may be an interface between personality, disorders and depression, which has been deemed depressive personality disorder. Thi s article reviews data on the comorbidity of depression, particularly chron ic depression, and personality disorders. This article also reviews data on the effect of comorbid bid personality disorders on treatment for depressi on, and the effect that treatment for depression has on personality disorde rs. Cororbid personality disorders generally do not impede treatment for de pression. Successful treatment for depression is associated with improvemen t ire personality disorders. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.