Personality disorder is a common condition affecting upwards of one in ten of the general population, with a significant proportion of this number coming into contact with mental health services. The condition can have long-lasting and far-reaching effects on people’s lives but there is a great deal that can be done to support people to manage their own difficulties.

Promoting self-management is perhaps the key in the treatment of personality disorder. This section aims to provide some useful ideas about how practitioners can work more collaboratively with people who experience personality disorder and what can be helpful in promoting and supporting self-management. In recent years, there has been an increasing recognition of the importance of self-management in many health conditions, especially chronic conditions. The Scottish Government’s Strategy for Self Management, called “Gaun Yersel” was developed in partnership with the Long Term Conditions Alliance Scotland (LTCAS) and published in 2008. Although the Gaun Yersel document is not specific to personality disorder (or even mental health), it is fair to say that selfmanagement is as important in personality disorder as in almost any other condition. In the treatment of personality disorder, every intervention should have as its ultimate aim to increase the ability of the patient to self-manage.