Personality Change Due to Another Medical Condition 683
Subtypes
The particular personality change can be sp ecified by indicating the symptom presenta-
tion that predominates in the clinical presentation.
Diagnostic Features
The essential feature of a personality change due to another medical condition is a persis-
tent personality disturbance that is judged to  be due to the direct pathophysiological ef-
fects of a medical condition. The personality disturbance represents a change from the
individual’s previous characteristic personalit y pattern. In children , this condition may be
manifested as a marked deviat ion from normal development rather than as a change in a
stable personality pattern (Criterion A). There must be evidence from the history, physical
examination, or laboratory findings that the personality change is the direct physiological
consequence of another medical condition (Crite rion B). The diagnosis is not given if the
disturbance is better explained by another ment al disorder (Criterion C). The diagnosis is
not given if the disturbance occurs exclusively during the course of a delirium (Criterion
D). The disturbance must also ca use clinically significant distress or impairment in social,
occupational, or other important areas of functioning (Criterion E).
Common manifestations of the personality change include affective instability, poor
impulse control, ou tbursts of aggression or rage grossly out of proportion to any precipi-
tating psychosocial stressor, marked apathy , suspiciousness, or paranoid ideation. The
phenomenology of the change is indicated using the subtypes listed in the criteria set. An
individual with the disorder is often characte rized by others as “not himself [or herself].”
Although it shares the term “personality” with  the other personality disorders, this diag-
nosis is distinct by virtue of its specific et iology, different phenome nology, and more vari-