Commentary on "Personality traits and the classification of mental disorders: toward a more complete integration in DSM-5 and an empirical model of psychopathology".

This article develops the larger theme that the fundamental quantitatively developed architecture of personality provides a sound base for classifying all areas of psychopathology and, more specifically, should underlie the current effort to revise the classification of personality disorders (PDs) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). My commentary is organized around what I perceive to be four significant problems with the proposed change to a trait-based system: (1) unfamiliarity to clinicians (and possibly unfeasibility), (2) lack of clinical utility, (3) the preliminary quality of the science upon which the proposed change is based, and (4) harmful effects on the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD). PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved.