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Personality disorders in later life: an update

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 September 2024

Ayesha Bangash Open the ORCID record for Ayesha Bangash [Opens in a new window]
Ayesha Bangash*
Affiliation:
Consultant old age psychiatrist with South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Wakefield, UK. She did her higher training in old age psychiatry in the West Midlands. Since becoming a consultant in 2018, she has been working at The Dales, an in-patient unit for people with functional and organic disorders at Calderdale Royal Hospital, Halifax, UK. She has a research interest in old age psychiatry, particularly late-life personality disorders.
*
Correspondence Ayesha Bangash. Email: 520ayesha@gmail.com
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Summary

Personality disorders can worsen with age or emerge after a relatively dormant phase in earlier life when roles and relationships ensured that maladaptive personality traits were contained. They can also be first diagnosed in late life, if personality traits become maladaptive as the person reacts to losses, transitions and stresses of old age. Despite studies focusing on late-life personality disorders in recent years, the amount of research on their identification and treatment remains deficient. This article endeavours to provide an understanding of how personality disorders present in old age and how they can be best managed. It is also hoped that this article will stimulate further research into this relatively new field in old age psychiatry. An awareness of late-life personality disorders is desperately needed in view of the risky and challenging behaviours they can give rise to. With rapidly growing numbers of older adults in the population, the absolute number of people with a personality disorder in older adulthood is expected to rise.

Keywords

Personality disorderpersonalityolder peopleborderline personality disorderpsychosocial intervention

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Type
Article
Information
BJPsych Advances , Volume 31 , Issue 3 , May 2025 , pp. 173 - 185
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Royal College of Psychiatrists

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