Personality pathology

Personality pathology refers to enduring patterns of cognition, emotion, and behavior that negatively affect a person's adaptation. In psychiatry and clinical psychology, it is characterized by adaptive inflexibility, vicious cycles of maladaptive behavior, and emotional instability under stress. In the United States and elsewhere, personality disorders are diagnosed categorically on Axis II of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association.