Personality disorders are a type of mental health problem where an individual differs significantly in terms of how they think, perceive, feel or relate to others. A person with personality disorder may find that their attitudes, beliefs and behaviours cause them longstanding problems in their life.

Each person’s experience of personality disorder is different however a person may have difficulties in how they think about themselves and others, which can be distressing and may upset others. Other people may find their behaviour unusual or unexpected, and they may find it difficult to spend time with them. This, of course, can make a person feel very hurt and insecure and they may end up avoiding the company of others or harming themselves. 

It is important to remember that everybody has times when their personality and their actions can cause them, or others around them problems. A personality disorder is when a person and/ or those close to them consistently suffer significant problems because of their thoughts, feelings and behaviours.  

The network will facilitate provision of specialist consultation and training to enhance the care and treatment of service users with complex needs. This approach aims to promote skills in the development of formulated care plans for people with severe personality disorders and/or particularly complex problems that take into account the views of different services involved and provides a unified approach to the management and/or therapy of the service user.