Personality and Psychopatholoogy

From our regular book review column.

An indisputable truism is that the study of personality disorders is one of the most fascinating and controversial topics in contemporary psychiatry. Those who believe in the validity or even the existence of these disorders are as passionate as those who think that DSM-IV Axis II disorders are mere variants of current Axis I conditions. This 5-part book, compiling contributions of 40 distinguished authors and researchers as a part of the American Psychopathological Association Series, takes the former position and tries gallantly to accumulate evidence that shows not only associations between personality and psychopathology from different perspectives, but also the inherent diagnostic and therapeutic relevance of personality disorders.