Category · F60-F69 block
F61 — Mixed and other personality disorders
Terminology note: F61 is used when a personality disturbance is genuinely present and meets the general pervasiveness/stability/impairment threshold, but does not match the specific pattern of any single F60 type, or shows troublesome changes not classifiable elsewhere.
What is this category?
F61 covers two situations: F61.0 (mixed personality disorders), where a person shows traits from several F60 types without any single type dominating, and F61.1 (troublesome personality changes, not classifiable elsewhere), for a personality disturbance that does not fit any specific named category. Both require the same general personality-disorder threshold (pervasive, stable, impairing) as F60 — F61 is not a lower bar, only a different fit.
Core diagnostic concept
F61 exists to prevent a learner from forcing a genuinely mixed or atypical personality disturbance into whichever single F60 type it most resembles. The test is the same general personality-disorder threshold as F60; what differs is that no single named pattern dominates clearly enough to justify a specific F60 code.
Key diagnostic features
- Meets the general personality-disorder threshold
- Pervasive, stable since adolescence, and genuinely impairing — the same requirement as any F60 type.
- No single F60 type dominates
- Traits from several named types are present together, without one clearly predominating, or the pattern does not resemble any named type closely enough.
How to weigh evidence
These learning labels are teaching aids, not official ICD-10 terminology (see Sources and Method).
- supports A pervasive, stable personality disturbance combining features from more than one F60 type in roughly equal measure, with no single type clearly the best fit.
- consistent not decisive A person shows a few traits associated with more than one personality-disorder type, without meeting the full pervasiveness/impairment threshold for a diagnosis at all.
- raises alternative On closer review, one specific F60 type's full pattern is actually clearly present and dominant.
- contradicts or weakens The presentation fits one specific F60 type's characteristic pattern clearly and completely.
- missing and necessary to ask Whether, on closer review, one specific named type's pattern actually predominates.
Diagnostic boundary
F61 requires the same general personality-disorder threshold as F60, applied when no single named type's pattern clearly predominates — it is a different fit, not a lower bar.
Full comparisons:
Duration and course
Minimum duration: Same as F60 — evident since late childhood or adolescence, continuing into adulthood.
Course: Stable over time, like other personality disorders.
Included presentations
- Mixed personality disorders: traits from several F60 types present together, without one clearly predominating.
- Troublesome personality changes, not classifiable elsewhere: a personality disturbance meeting the general threshold but not matching any named F60 pattern.
Exclusions and distinguishing presentations
| If this is true instead… | Consider | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A presentation where one specific F60 type's full, characteristic pattern is actually clearly present and dominant | F60 | When a specific type's pattern is genuinely the best fit, the more precise F60 code should be used instead of the mixed/residual F61 code. |
Four-character subtypes (orientation)
A learner should check carefully whether one specific F60 type's pattern actually predominates before reaching for F61 — F61 is for genuine mixed or atypical presentations, not a shortcut around identifying the more specific, better-fitting type.
- F61.0 — Mixed personality disorders
- Traits from several F60 types, without one clearly predominating. (taught for orientation only, not separately assessed in this pilot)
- F61.1 — Troublesome personality changes, not classifiable elsewhere
- A personality disturbance meeting the general threshold but matching no named F60 pattern. (taught for orientation only, not separately assessed in this pilot)
External causes to check first
Categories in this block require that the disturbance is not better explained by another external cause listed below. These short capsules are reminders, not full teaching modules.
Boundary capsule — Pervasiveness and onset across F60-F63
A shared reasoning check for telling apart a specific personality disorder (F60), a mixed or troublesome personality disturbance not meeting a single F60 pattern (F61), a personality change with a definite later onset following a catastrophic experience or psychiatric illness (F62), and a recurrent impulse-control pattern that is not itself a pervasive personality disturbance (F63) — four categories that can all present with 'this person's behaviour causes problems for them and others' but that require different evidence about pervasiveness, timing of onset, and whether a genuine baseline personality can be documented.
What to check:
- Onset and course: has the pattern been present, essentially unchanged, since childhood, adolescence, or early adulthood (points toward F60/F61), or is there a documented, previously different personality baseline with a definite, later change following a specific catastrophic experience or a psychiatric illness (points toward F62)?
- Pervasiveness: does the pattern show up rigidly and inflexibly across most personal and social situations (points toward F60/F61/F62), or is it a single, recurrent behavioural cycle that is otherwise circumscribed, without evidence of a broader pervasive personality disturbance (points toward F63)?
- Fit to a specific pattern: does the presentation clearly and predominantly match one of the named F60 patterns (e.g. dissocial, emotionally unstable, dependent), or does it show troublesome features from several patterns without a clear single fit, or change episodically over time (points toward F61 rather than F60)?
- Distress and control: for a repeated, tension-then-relief behavioural cycle specifically, is it experienced as a struggle to resist a specific impulse, rather than as the person's stable, ordinary way of relating to others and the world?
A full personality assessment or a structured clinical interview, both of which are outside this capsule's scope and are needed before any of these classifications is used in real clinical practice.
Worked example — a genuinely mixed presentation
A 40-year-old has, since adolescence, shown a pervasive pattern combining marked suspiciousness of others' motives, a strong need for orderliness and control, and periodic emotional instability in close relationships, causing significant difficulty at work and at home. No single one of these three patterns clearly predominates over the others; each is present to a similar, clinically significant degree.
- Step 1 — Confirm the general threshold: pervasive since adolescence, causing real difficulty across contexts.
- Step 2 — Check whether one F60 type's pattern predominates: paranoid, anankastic, and emotionally unstable features are all present to a similar degree, with none clearly dominant.
- Conclusion — F61.0, Mixed personality disorders — the general threshold is met, but no single named type is the clearly better fit.
Interactive practice
- Type A A bit of several, fitting none exactly Recognition / application · Foundation
- Type B Actually, one pattern does stand out Boundary discrimination · Transfer
Retrieval prompts
Try answering each of these from memory before revealing where to check. Nothing you think or type here is sent or saved anywhere.
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Explain what distinguishes F61 from any specific F60 type.
Reveal answer location
Check Duration and course, Diagnostic boundary, or the rapid revision card below — the cue you need is one of those, in this category's own already-authored wording.
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State why F61 is not a lower diagnostic threshold than F60.
Reveal answer location
Check Duration and course, Diagnostic boundary, or the rapid revision card below — the cue you need is one of those, in this category's own already-authored wording.
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Explain the check that should be made before applying F61 rather than a specific F60 code.
Reveal answer location
Check Duration and course, Diagnostic boundary, or the rapid revision card below — the cue you need is one of those, in this category's own already-authored wording.
These self-checks are a personal study aid only, visible to you on this page for this visit — they are not stored and do not affect your mastery dimensions.
Rapid revision card
F61: F61 applies the same personality-disorder threshold as F60, used when no single named type's pattern clearly predominates.
Decisive boundary cues:
- General threshold met, no single F60 type dominant -> weighs toward F61.
- General threshold met, one specific F60 type clearly dominant -> weighs toward that F60 code instead.
- General threshold not met at all -> neither F60 nor F61 applies.
Duration/course: Same as F60 — evident since adolescence, continuing into adulthood.
Nearest alternatives: f60, f62
Common mistake: Forcing a genuinely mixed presentation into whichever single F60 type it most resembles, rather than recognising it as mixed.
Retrieval prompt: Does one specific personality-disorder type's pattern actually predominate here, or are several present together?
(or use your browser's print function) Open full-page printable revision view →
Source basis
WHO ICD-10 international classification structure and code/title (ICD-10 Browser, 2019 English release).
Original educational synthesis, informed by general published clinical-education understanding of ICD-10 F60-F69; no verbatim CDDG or DCR text is reproduced. See Sources and Method for the full policy.
Last reviewed: 2026-09-17. Full policy: Sources and Method.
Educational resource only. This page and its cases teach ICD-10 classification reasoning using fictional scenarios. It does not diagnose real people and should not be used to assess yourself or anyone else. A person's gender identity or sexual orientation is not itself a disorder. If you or someone you know is struggling with a pattern of behaviour, an urge you find hard to control, or distress related to discrimination or how you are treated by others, please seek prompt, respectful professional support.