Personality Disorder

The general definition of a personality disorder is very close to that of a distinctive temperament type such as high sensitivity: “An enduring pattern of inner experience and behavior that deviates markedly from the expectations of the individual’s culture, is pervasive and inflexible, has an onset in adolescence or early adulthood [or presumably even earlier, although it cannot be diagnosed earlier], is stable over time, and leads to distress or impairment”

 The personality disorders most easily confused with high sensitivity are, not surprisingly, those that sensitive persons are also mostly likely to develop: schizoid, borderline, avoidant, dependent, and obsessive-compulsive.