| DSM-IV Personality Disorder | | ||
| Borderline | Inappropriate anger; unstable and intense relationships alternating between idealisation and devaluation. | Excitable | Moody and hard to please; intense but short-lived enthusiasm for people, projects or things. |
| Paranoid | Distrustful and suspicious of others; motives are interpreted as malevolent. | Sceptical | Cynical, distrustful and doubting others’ true intensions. |
| Avoidant | Social inhibition; feelings of inadequacy and hypersensitivity to criticism or rejection. | Cautious | Reluctant to take risks for fear of being rejected or negatively evaluation. |
| Schizoid | Emotional coldness and detachment from social relationships; indifferent toT praise and criticism. | Reserved | Aloof, detached and uncommunicative; lacking interest in or awareness of the feelings of others. |
| Passive-Aggressive | Passive resistance to adequate social and occupational performance; irritated when asked to do something he/she does not want to. | Leisurely | Independent; ignoring people’s requests and becoming irritated or argumentative if they persist. |
| Narcissistic | Arrogant and haughty behaviours or attitudes, grandiose sense of self-importance and entitlement. | Bold | Unusually self-confident; feelings of grandiosity and entitlement; over valuation of one’s capabilities. |
| Antisocial | Disregard for the truth; impulsivity and failure to plan ahead; failure to conform | Mischievous | Enjoying risk taking and testing the limits; needing excitement; manipulative, deceitful, cunning and exploitative. |
| Histrionic | Excessive emotionality and attention seeking; self dramatising, theatrical and exaggerated emotional expression. | Colourful | Expressive, animated and dramatic; wanting to be noticed and needing to be the centre of attention. |
| Schizotypal | Odd beliefs or magical thinking; behaviour or speech that is odd, eccentric or peculiar. | Imaginative | Acting and thinking in creative and sometimes odd or unusual ways. |
| Obsessive-Compulsive | Preoccupations with orderliness; rules, perfectionism and control; over-Conscientiousness and inflexible. | Diligent | Meticulous, precise and perfectionistic, inflexible about rules and procedures; critical of others; |
| Dependent | Difficulty making everyday decisions without excessive advice and reassurance; difficulty expressing disagreement out of fear of loss of support or approval. | Dutiful | Eager to please and reliant on others for support and guidance; reluctant to take independent action or to go against popular opinion. |