In: Psychology
Personality disorders are generally very difficult to treat, in part because they are, by definition, relatively enduring, pervasive, and inflexible patterns of behavior and inner experience. Moreover, many different goals of treatment can be formulated, and some are more difficult to achieve than others. Goals might include reducing subjective distress, changing specific dysfunctional behaviors, and changing whole patterns of behavior or the entire structure of the personality
For people with severe personality disorders, therapy may be more effective in situations where acting-out behavior can be constrained. For example, many patients with borderline personality disorder are hospitalized at times, for safety reasons, because of their frequent suicidal behavior. However, partial-hospitalization programs are increasingly being used as an intermediate and less expensive alternative to inpatient treatment.