Personality Disorders, Eccentricities or Ageism?

Abstract: Personality disorders, especially in older adults, are among the most difficult psychiatric disorders for nurses to assess. When aging further complicates these disorders, nurses' therapeutic skills are challenged. It has long been thought that personality disorders "age out," but new research indicates that personality disorders may in fact continue throughout the life span. 

 

In addition, the primary and secondary changes of aging further complicate assessment. Assessment of personality disorders in older adults may also be distorted by ageist stereotypes and a lack of understanding of cultural context. Likewise, nurses must be careful about misinterpreting "eccentric" older adult behavior as a personality disorder. In this article, we focus on assessment challenges in older adults to help nurses distinguish between characteristics of personality disorders, stereotypes, and eccentricities in this population. (Magoteaux & Bonnivier, 2009)

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- Magoteaux, A. L. & Bonnivier, J. F. (2009). Distinguishing between personality disorders, stereotypes, and eccentricities in older adults. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 47(7), 19-24, link
- photograph of Bette Davis via

Bette Davis: Reading Too Much, Getting A Divorce

On 7 December 1938, the New York Times reported that the reason for the dissolution of Bette Davis' marriage with Harmon 'Oscar' Nelson was that she read too much (via):



"Harmon O. Nelson obtained an uncontested divorce today from his actress wife, Bette Davis.
Home life with Mrs. Nelson contained little of that close communion between husband and wife, Mr. Nelson's testimony in Superior Court disclosed. He said that he usually just sat while his wife read, "to an unnecessary degree."
"She thought her work was more important than her marriage," Mr. Nelson testified. "She even insisted on reading books or manuscripts when he had guests. It was all very upsetting."
The Nelsons were married in 1932 and separated a month ago."

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photograph of Ruth Elizabeth 'Bette' Davis (1908-1989) via