Mood and Personality Disorders Research Program

What Is Personality?

There are many different ways to understand the term "personality." In the field of personality disorders, we use "personality" to describe the set of characteristics that guide how an individual behaves, perceives him/herself, and interacts with others. When these characteristics interfere with an individual's ability to function in a work setting or in personal relationships, this may be a sign of a personality disorder. We believe that personality disorders result from underlying biological predispositions which interact with past and present life events to cause clinical symptoms. Our research group focuses on bettering our understanding of predisposition and causation in an effort to improve treatment.