B) UNDERSTANDING PERSONALITY DISORDER 1. What is personality disorder? The term "personality" refers to the enduring patterns of thoughts, feelings and outward behaviour which is characteristic of an individual. For example, we commonly talk of a "shy person" or an "out- going or confident person" to describe someone who usually feels and behaves in certain ways. Although most people tend to behave in relatively predictable ways, they also are flexible enough to develop, to learn from past experiences and to change their behaviour when circumstances change. An example of this would be someone who behaves in an out-going and confident way with close friends and family, but in a shy, diffident way with strangers or the boss. Another example would be someone who is shy as a teenager but, as he develops and gains more experience, becomes more confident as he grows older.