A little more academic/clinical than I'd hoped, but informative! Very engaging in audiobook format.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC (in audiobook format).

Personality Disorders by Allan V. Horwitz is a fascinating and informative book that traces the history and controversies of the concept of personality disorders. The author provides a comprehensive overview of how different disciplines and perspectives have shaped the understanding and diagnosis of these conditions, from the early twentieth century to the present day. He also examines the social and moral implications of labeling people with personality disorders, and the challenges of finding effective treatments for them.

The book is well-written, engaging, and balanced, presenting both the strengths and weaknesses of various approaches to personality disorders. The author does not shy away from the complexity and ambiguity of the topic, but rather invites the reader to think critically and reflectively about it. The book covers a wide range of personality disorders, such as narcissistic, borderline, antisocial, and others, and explores their historical origins, cultural influences, and scientific debates.

The audiobook is narrated by Jonathan Yen, who does a great job of conveying the author's tone and style. He speaks clearly, confidently, and with appropriate emphasis and emotion. He also pronounces the technical terms and names correctly and smoothly. The audiobook is easy to follow and enjoyable to listen to.

Personality Disorders is a must-read for anyone interested in the history and current state of personality disorders. It is a valuable resource for students, researchers, clinicians, and general readers alike. It offers a rich and nuanced perspective on one of the most intriguing and controversial topics in psychology and psychiatry.

Interesting dive into different personality disorders and their histories. Not for experts as there's no new information or analysis here, but a good primer.

Special thanks to netgalley and High Bridge Audio for this copy of Personality Disorders.

If you are looking for a history of personality disorders in a textbook like format this would probably rate much higher than I did. I was hoping for a more comprehensive book on each of the different types of personality disorders as I know people who have been diagnosed with different ones. This was just not the book for me.

The narrator was good and as a textbook this is good.

This was a really interesting and informative audiobook. I learned a lot and it made me really reflect on situations I've had or people I've interacted with who have personality disorders and why things went the way they did. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in this topic. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to check out this audiobook!

I enjoyed this audiobook and learned a lot about personality disorders! I think it’s important to learn and understand these different personalities because you never know who when it will come in handy. This was very informative and I found it kept my attention until the end.

This book was incredibly informative! I appreciated how the information broke down the history of personality disorders into more digestible segments. It was fascinating to learn about how the testing changed & how the perception of personality disorders changed as well!

This book really drew me in with the topic of personality disorders. They are one of the most interesting and exciting things to study in psychology, because the brain does some really protective things to keep us safe. I really enjoyed listening to this book, and learning more about personality disorders.

That being said, this book is rather dry. It is more of a 'textbook' than anything else, and may not be for the general population to read. Having a background in psychologist helped me get through this, although there were definitely some areas that the background provided was too involved and at the basic level. I would have preferred more of the advanced topic, personally, but understand that the author has to cover all of his bases.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is exactly as described. A history in personality disorders. It was a very informative read and took me a bit longer to listen to. I found the material very interesting and well researched however, it was sometimes tough to get through due to some of its textbook feel. I believe I would have retained more information had I physically read this book rather than listened to it. I am incredibly impressed with the narrator because he was able to keep me engaged most of the time. I’d recommend this to anyone who has an interest in this field.

Thank you to NetGalley and HighBridge Audio for an audiobook ARC.

As someone with degrees in sociology and psychology, this felt like a throwback to school, in a good way! I miss thinking about how society interacts with individual psychology, and this book does deliver that. Sometimes, it does feel like a textbook. But, that means I think it would be a valuable text to assign for something like a social psychology class. It would be a favorite assignment if it was given to me!

Alan V. Horwitz surprised me with the detailed description he went into of how each personality disorder came to be. It was very interesting. The history was interesting however I can't say I agree with his views on everything he says in regards to personality Disorders. However it was an interesting read and I enjoyed The historical perspective The most.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Listening to this as an audiobook was like listening to a textbook -- I wouldn't recommend that. HOWEVER, I do wish I had a physical copy of this book that I could read, annotate, and use with my students. As far as listening to it while driving, at the gym, doing laundry, etc... not the best choice. But the information was useful! I just don't think it makes for the best audiobook. With that being said, I'm giving it 3 stars; I don't recommend the audio, but I would recommend a physical copy.

Horwitz does an excellent job of summarizing the extensive and complicated history of personality disorders. While this was a heavy tome with a lot of detailed historical information, reading it slowly and steadily over a longer period of time allowed me to enjoy this read without becoming overwhelmed. The aspect Horwitz addressed that I found most engaging was the constant attempt to balance the research and practitioner communities. I feel this addressed a common issue across professions - those who work with statistics and numbers vs. those who see the complicated day to day behind those statistics and numbers.

Personality Disorders: A Short History of Narcissistic, Borderline, Antisocial, and Other Types
by Allan V. Horwitz
An eye opening version of history of personality, and personality disorders. Coming from the Greek early theories of personality and illness. The story goes through medical and clinical changes to definition and diagnosis of personality disorders. Showing the personal conflicts and social conflicts that persist in defining personality, and disorder. The use of psychological tests, and concepts that will affect all parts of our modern life. The Tests of personality and its history is remarkable, and very well described showing the lay person the faults in the system, and how much it is connected to our social interaction. From Military ranks and opportunity is was based on results of arbitrary tests, that can be manipulated in many ways.
Rounding the story with the problems with psychology and medical use of categories and definition to helping their patients, and obtaining funds from secondary medical systems. It shows the problems of the models, from tests, to situation, personal opinion.
This is a great introduction to psychology, remarkably better than the books I have read in my college psychology text. I would see it as a resource or a contrasting text to help students understand psychology. Not only introducing the great minds of the fields but showing the difficulty in the situation.

This was really interesting and insightful! I learned a lot about different personality disorders and their manifestations as well as ways to help loved ones!

I am not a professional and cannot really judge the accuracy and trustworthiness of the information in Horwitz's book but I can safely say he offers a detailed insight in the history of personality disorders, especially for people like me who want to know more abou this topic just for personal knowledge and generic interest. Basically Horwitz sums up the history of psychology and psychiatry relating personality (and also mental) disorders, tracing the changes, innovations, new approached in this field, he does so in a chronological order and always highlighting the influence of society-related elements.

The narrator is fantastic! He has an extremey pleasant, clear voice and accent that makes listening a pleasure.

Very Detailed

This was an interesting book.

I found it very well written and very well researched.

Allan did a great job at going through each of the different disorders and describing the details of each.

I found it a fairly academic book. Almost bordering on clinical.

I am not entirely sure how applicable the book is to the normal population, but this would be a great reference for psychologists and the type.

Learned a lot. But it was a lot to take in for a regular guy like me.

Check it out for sure!

3.8/5

I find this books perspective interesting and insightful. While going through someparts of it I felt somewhere we already know these parameters, but someone else telling us the very same thing in books just acts like a validation.

I picked this one up to understand the depths of personality, mental and other disorders. The book efficiently discusses the various types of disorders and also adds a side lane info about how we cure such disorders, who are the ones that will accept them gracefully and where will it be the most difficult to induce any change.

It's definable not one of those books that you can binge read. It's quite heavy and I went little by little to absorb all those in.
Never the less, I find all the matters discussed in the book agreeable to an extent. Except the way it defined introverts and extroverts. No, I don't think introverts are all that self involved creatures.

Rating: 4/5
Genre: #nonfiction #philosophy

Thankyou @netgalley @hopkinspress for the Digital Review copy

As someone who loved studying psychology in school, I was so excited to get my hands on this book! It was especially exciting to read about personality disorders, something that is not as often written about and discussed in the field, as the author stated. The author did a wonderful job researching for this book and providing readers with real-life examples to support our understanding.

I didn't expect it to read like a textbook and that was a bit surprising to me when I started, and I think that the average non-fiction reader may struggle with getting through it. If you're looking for something to supplement your own classes or research, this could be a great choice!

I enjoyed this book but it did feel a little disjointed and longer than necessary in places, but was very informative and good overall.