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ICD-10 Learning Lab Exit Presentation Mode

Category: F60 F61 F62 F63 F64 F65 F66 F68 F69

F60 — Specific personality disorders: facilitator sheet

Teaching objective

The single test that applies across every F60 subtype is the same: is the pattern pervasive across personal and social contexts, stable since adolescence or early adulthood, and genuinely distressing or impairing — not simply a personality trait many people share to some degree, and not a change that began later in life following a specific event (which would instead point to F62).

Choose material

Worked example · Case: No regard for the rule, or for her · Case: Turbulent, but is it pervasive? · Case: Unable to decide without her

Worked example

Show scenario

A 30-year-old man has, since his mid-teens, repeatedly lied to and exploited people close to him for personal gain, shown no remorse when confronted with the harm caused, and has a long-standing pattern of disregarding rules and other people's rights across work, family, and friendships. This pattern has been consistent and has caused significant relationship breakdowns over the past 15 years.

(or reveal one step at a time below)
  1. Reveal step 1

    Step 1 — Check pervasiveness: the pattern spans work, family, and friendships, not one isolated relationship.

  2. Reveal step 2

    Step 2 — Check stability and onset: consistently present since his mid-teens, continuing into adulthood.

  3. Reveal step 3

    Step 3 — Check the specific pattern: disregard for others' rights, exploitation, and lack of remorse.

  4. Reveal step 4

    Conclusion — F60.2, Dissocial personality disorder — pervasiveness, early onset, and the specific disregard-for-others pattern together support this, distinguishing it from a single dishonest act.

Comparison points

F60 requires a pervasive, stable pattern with onset in adolescence or early adulthood causing genuine distress or impairment — not a single behaviour, a mild trait, or a pattern that actually began later in life after a specific event.

Discussion prompts

(or reveal one at a time below)
  1. Prompt 1

    State the three features that must all be present before any F60 subtype applies.

  2. Prompt 2

    Explain why a single dishonest or harmful act is not, by itself, evidence of dissocial personality disorder.

  3. Prompt 3

    Name the two subtypes of emotionally unstable personality disorder and what distinguishes them.

Summary

F60 requires a pervasive, stable pattern evident since adolescence, causing genuine distress or impairment — not a single behaviour or a later-onset change.