Commentary on Sprock and Fredendall's (2008), "Comparison of Prototypic Cases of Depressive Personality Disorder and Dysthymic Disorder"

In this commentary, the author discusses the merits and contributions of Sprock and Fredendall's (2008) study of depressive personality and dysthymia using a prototype methodology with experienced clinicians. Their article demonstrates the difficulty in differentiating depressive personality disorder from dysthymia, though it seems to raise even more salient questions about the current ways by which personality disorders are assessed and diagnosed. In light of these findings, the author offers some ways by which personality disorder assessment could be improved, (C) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 64:1318-1322, 2008.