Personality disorders in later life: an update

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.