Tuesday, November 16, 2004

Passive-aggressive behavior in the NYT

The New York Times > Health > Mental Health & Behavior > Oh, Fine, You're Right. I'm Passive-Aggressive.

This is a fun review. The author correctly distinguishes between passive-aggressive behavior and passive-aggressive personality disorder. The former is normal and not rare (Minnesotans claim they're experts in it, I can't say if that's true or not), the very existence of the latter is in question.

I've long been fascinated by the so-called personality disorders; they dwell in the twilight zone between true pathology (which is never adaptive) and awkward individual variation. Borderline personality disorder tends to the pathologic, narcissistic personality disorder is a prerequisite for some careers.

It's always fun to pick one's unique personality disorder ...

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