Originally Posted by Excargodog

The difference between "personality" and "personality disorder" is the extent to which it actually interferes with daily function. If it significantly affects daily function it is by definition a disorder and needs to be treated.

The problem is that there is a whole industry out there that is incentivized by their own economic interests in treating personalities as disorders, and for many of those people SSRIs are viewed as being in the same category as daily vitamins,. And even more effective (and less FAA concerning) modalities like cognitive behavioral therapy require a diagnosis of "disorder" for the insurance company to cover the cost of treatment. And that is doubly problematic because as was learned with the ADD "epidemic" and really through out medicine, it becomes fairly common for people to "become" their diagnosis once an authority figure "awards" them one, no matter if it is an exaggeration or an outright error, and the FAA pretty much defaults to the assumption that the diagnosis once given is correct.