In our continuing effort to provide information related to Social Security’s new listings on mental impairments we are going to look at changes made to the Personality Disorder listing. And, as just a reminder, Social Security’s set of listings are used in evaluating disability claims judging a condition’s severity and how it limits a person’s ability to function. We will post the current listing for Personality Disorder followed by the new listing, which will take effect January 17, 2017.
Current Personality Disorder Listing
12.08 Personality disorders: A personality disorder exists when personality traits are inflexible and maladaptive and cause either significant impairment in social or occupational functioning or subjective distress. Characteristic features are typical of the individual’s long-term functioning and are not limited to discrete episodes of illness.
The required level of severity for these disorders is met when the requirements in both A and B are satisfied.
- Deeply ingrained, maladaptive patterns of behavior associated with one of the following:
- Seclusiveness or autistic thinking; or
- Pathologically inappropriate suspiciousness or hostility; or
- Oddities of thought, perception, speech and behavior; or
- Persistent disturbances of mood or affect; or
- Pathological dependence, passivity, or aggressivity; or
- Intense and unstable interpersonal relationships and impulsive and damaging behavior;
AND
- Resulting in at least two of the following:
- Marked restriction of activities of daily living; or
- Marked difficulties in maintaining social functioning; or
- Marked difficulties in maintaining concentration, persistence, or pace; or
- Repeated episodes of decompensation, each of extended duration.
New Personality Disorder Listing
12.08 Personality and impulse-control disorders, satisfied by A and B:
- Medical documentation of a pervasive pattern of one or more of the following:
- Distrust and suspiciousness of others;
- Detachment from social relationships;
- Disregard for and violation of the rights of others;
- Instability of interpersonal relationships;
- Excessive emotionality and attention seeking;
- Feelings of inadequacy;
- Excessive need to be taken care of;
- Preoccupation with perfectionism and orderliness; or
- Recurrent, impulsive, aggressive behavioral outbursts.
AND
- Extreme limitation of one, or marked limitation of two, of the following areas of mental functioning:
- Understand, remember, or apply information.
- Interact with others.
- Concentrate, persist, or maintain pace.
- Adapt or manage oneself.
