Von der «Psychopathie» zur «Persönlichkeitsstörung» - die begriffliche Entwicklung eines heiklen psychiatrischen Bereiches.

The issue of personality disorders addresses fundamental questions of psychiatry: Is there a clear boundary between normal behaviour and the state of mental illness? Which criteria are defining this boundary? Is a personality disorder really a mental illness or «just» a special variation of an individual lifestyle? This paper reviews the development of the terms psychopathy/personality disorder from the early 19"' century to the present-day diagnostic manuals ICD-10 and DSM-5. This debate spreads out - as it does with regard to any other mental disorder - between psychopathological, neurobiological and social sciences approaches. It is of high practical relevance to realize that nowadays effective therapeutic options for patients with personality disorders are available. Therefore, the therapeutic nihilism of earlier times is no longer justified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]