Personality Disorders and Drug Disorders Term Paper

Therefore, it is likely that "men who are highly comorbid for antisocial PD and alcohol and drug use disorders are more likely to die young or be incarcerated than women and thus less likely to be represented in general population surveys." (Grant et al., 2006, p. 128). However, because incarcerated or dead men do not present for treatment, these findings are still of use to the practitioner.

Conclusion

Both articles do a good job of explaining the relationship between personality disorders and substance disorders. The authors all did a good job of explaining the prior literature and why it suggests such a relationship. Furthermore, they did a good job of explaining why knowledge about comorbidities is important to those seeking to treat people with either substance disorders or personality disorders.

The articles were both written in an easy-to-read manner, which could be understood by anyone with at least a high-school education, even if they had no background in mental health. The articles also carefully explained the study methodology, so that the reader could form an independent assessment of the scientific merits of the study. However, there were some differences in the studies, which seem like they would impact their utility

First, the study by Grant et al. suffered from a serious weakness, in that it failed to examine borderline personality disorder. Prior research demonstrates that borderline personality disorder may be more highly linked to substance disorders than any other personality disorder, therefore it would seem important to include research regarding that disorder. However, the Grant study had a huge population, which made it easier to suggest that its results actually reflected the results one would find in the general population. Moreover, the researchers were careful to point out areas of weakness. The Grant study focused on gender differences, as well, which is important; women have been consistently overlooked in medical research, though it has been clearly established that women respond differently than men to the treatment of substance abuse disorders and personality disorders.

The study by Teplin et al. suffered from its own serious weakness. The sample size was relatively small, and consisted only of people who had been referred to the study. Therefore, it is likely that patients with overt symptoms of personality disorders were not referred to the study. However, by focusing on a specific addiction, the Teplin study was able to link specific behavior to specific personality disorders. Overall, this research would be more helpful to a practitioner, who has knowledge of the type of substance being abused, because it would help direct further screening for personality disorders.

References

Grant, B.F., F.S. Stinson, D. Dawson, S.P. Chou, W.J. Ruan, & R.P. Pickering. (2006). Co- occurrence of 12-month alcohol and drug use disorder and personality…