This page contains a number of statistics about personality disorders and related topics. Where available, sources and links to the original data are given and we encourage you to follow the links to these sources if you want to learn more.
A number of studies have been conducted in recent years to determine the prevalence of personality disorders in the general US population.
According to a 2007 study, 9.1% of the US population (about 1 in 11 people) meet the DSM-IV criteria for a personality disorder. Two previous smaller surveys have estimated the percentage between 9.0% and 15.7%.
The following table shows statistically how likely it is that a person who is diagnosed with one personality disorder will also be diagnosed with another personality disorder, as defined by the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV).
The numbers displayed in the table below are a statistical measures of co-occurrence known as "tetrachoric correlations". The more positive the number, the more likely it is that a person will be diagnosed with the second personality disorder listed. The more negative the number, the less likely it is that a person will be diagnosed with the second personality disorder in the table.
Note: This data was compiled from an initial survey of 5692 people in the US. None of the people in the survey sample were identified as meeting the criteria for Histrionic Persoanlity Disorder or Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and no comorbidity information is therefore given for HPD or NPD.
Comorbidity Between Personality Disorders and DSM-IV Axis I Disorders
67% of people who meet the DSM-IV criteria for a Personality DIsorder have been found in a 2007 study to also meet the criteria for at least one of the DSM-IV Axis I disorder. The table below shows the probability that a peson who has been diagnosed with a personality disorder will also meet the criteria for each of the following Axis I disorders, as defined by the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV):
Note that although 67% of the people meeting the criteria for an Axis II - or personality disorder also meet the criteria for an Axis I disorder, the reverse is not true. Only 24.8% of people meeting the criteria for an Axis I disorder also meet the criteria for an Axis II disorder.
UK 2006-2007 Personality Disorder Hospital Admissions
The chart below gives UK National Health Service 2006-2007 Breakdown of Personality Disorder Diagnoses per hospital admission. Diagnoses are based on the World Health Organization (WHO) system for classifying physical and mental disorders International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10).
It can be seen from the chart that 2/3 of all hospital admitted personality disorder diagnoses in the UK are for Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD) - which is known internationally as Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD).
UK 2006-2007 Personality Disorder Hospital Admissions by Gender
The chart below gives UK National Health Service 2006-2007 Breakdown of Personality Disorder Diagnoses by gender per hospital admission. Diagnoses are based on the World Health Organization (WHO) International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10).
The data shows that about 65% of in-patient personality disorder cases in the UK are diagnosed in females and 35% in males. BPD and HPD are significantly more common among females and APD, SPD and OCPD are significantly more common among males.
Self Harm Statistics
British Medical Journal 2002 Study on Self Harm in Adolescents
A 2002 survey of 15 and 16 year old students in 41 schools in England found that 6.9% reported acts of deliberate self-harm in the previous year, with a significantly higher prevalence in females (11.2%) than in males (3.2%)
In 2004, suicide was the 11th leading cause of death in the US. There were 32,439 recorded suicides, or 109 suicides for every million people (0.01% of the population). It is estimated that about 25 suicides are attempted for every death recorded.
Gender Distribution:
Women report 3 times as many suicide attempts as men. However, men account for the majority (79.4%) of actual suicide deaths.
In the US, an estimated 903,000 children (1.2% of all children) were victims of abuse and neglect in 2001.
57.2 percent of victims suffered neglect (including medical neglect),
18.6 percent were physically abused
9.6 percent were sexually abused;
26.6 percent of victims were associated with additional types of maltreatment.
Percentages of victims are similar for males and females (48.0% and 51.5% respectively).
Children in the age group of birth to 3 years account for 27.7% of victims. Victimization percentages decline as age increases.
In the US, more than half of all child abuse victims are White (50.2%); one-quarter (25.0%) are African American; and one-sixth (14.5%) are Hispanic. American Indians and Alaska Natives account for 2% of victims, and Asian-Pacific Islanders accounted for 1.3% of victims.
19% of reported and substantiated child abuse cases result in the child being removed from the home.
The answer may surprise you. It is most comonly not the proverbial "stranger" that most children are warned to avoid - it is more likely to be someone much closer to home:
Child Abduction - Child Abduction is a serious, yet common occurrence when people who suffer from personality disorders become involved in a custody dispute. Approximately 82% of more than 200,000 child abductions every year are perpetrated by family members.
Description:
U.S. Department of Justice statistics show that 9% of reported missing children cases are the result of child abductions and that 82% of reported child abductions in the US are determined to have been committed by family members.
*Stereotypical kidnappings are the particular type of non family abduction that receives the most media attention and involves a stranger or slight acquaintance who detains the child overnight, transports the child at least 50 miles, holds the child for ransom, abducts the child with intent to keep the child permanently, or kills the child.
Family Member Child Abduction Prevalence
An estimated 203,900 children were victims of a family
abduction in 1999. In 43% of these cases, the whereabouts of the abducted child was known to the child's caretaker.
In 78% of cases one of the child's parents is the abductor with abduction by the father occurring 2 times as often as abduction by the mother. However, it should be noted that in disputed custody cases, the child's mother is 7 times more likely to be granted sole custody than the child's father, which heavily influences the numbers.
In most cases, family child abductions are short-lived and will not serve the abductor well. Most courts look unfavorably on anyone who abducts children or tries to deny another parent access in that way.
If a former spouse or family member disappears with the children, it is best to contact the local authorities immediately for help. See our Emergency Page for More Info.
Divorce Statistics
US Divorce Rate
The US 2008 National Divorce Rate is 3.6 divorces per 1000 population.
Divorce figures exclude data for California, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana, and Minnesota. Populations for divorce rates also exclude these states.
US Child Custody Statistics
Many people believe that mothers are naturally better caregivers than fathers. And the US courts seem to agree. US Divorce Statistics show that a divorcing mother is 7 times more likely to retain sole custody of her children than a father:
Feb 10, 2010 - The American Psychiatric Association today released their first draft of the 5th revision of the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual (DSM-V) which regroups personality disorder diagnoses into 5 categories:
Antisocial/Psychopathic Type
Avoidant Type
Borderline Type
Obsessive-Compulsive Type
Schizotypal Type
There is also a proposed mechanism for scoring the severity and the match of each of the diagnostic traits.
The proposals are not final and the APA has a comment period starting today and ending April 20th 2010. The DSM-V is scheduled for release in May 2013.
Dec 30 2009 - Those of you who use the "stay logged in" feature of the Out of the FOG support forum will notice that you unexpectedly had to log in again today. Please don't be alarmed. This was caused by some updates to the board behind the scenes. Please excuse the inconvenience.
Nov 1 2009 - Out of the FOG is celebrating 2 years in bringing information and support to family members and loved-ones of people who suffer from personality disorders. In the two years since we launched, our traffic has grown exponentially and we are rapidly becoming one of the internet's premier sources of information on coping with personality disorders. Happy birthday OOTF and thanks to all our members and supporters around the world.
Out of the FOG Support Forum Zetaboards Upgrade
June 15 2009 - Please excuse our appearance while the Out of the FOG Support Forum upgrades to run on the new Zetaboards software platform. The new software contains a number of new features and improvements over our existing system which should become evident after the conversion is completed.
This upgrade will convert all our existing forums, posts, PM's, memberships and profiles. There should be very little interruption in service or loss of data. The only thing you will notice is changes to the appearance of the graphical interface. It will take 1-2 weeks to complete the conversion.
Our main Out of the FOG information site, here at http://www.outofthefogsite.com will be unaffected by the upgrade. Bookmark this site and visit here if you have any trouble logging into the board. Should any unexpected interruption in our service occur, an announcement will be posted in the "Latest News" Box at at http://www.outofthefogsite.com. Additionally, a temporary discussion forum has been established here which you can use should we experience any long-term interruption of service.
Please excuse any inconvenience you may experience as we perform the upgrade.
June 3 2009 - BPD author A.J. Mahari has launched a new version of her website called BPD INFO which has a section which invites members to submit website articles about BPD. Our own gary submitted an article to her site this week.
