Personality starts from an inborn temperament and takes shape through how the environment meets a person's needs. Problems earlier in development, such as attachment, set up later ones, and growing up in an inconsistent environment leaves people without confidence and trust in themselves and the world.
What it is
Everyone comes with a temperament: a certain way of responding intrinsically to environmental and internal experiences. Personality builds from there.
“we all come with a temperament, hearkening back to our first podcast. You all come with a temperament. That's everybody. There's a certain way that we respond intrinsically to different environmental and internal experiences. And that's temperament”
3:54What Psychiatrists Get Wrong About Personality DisordersOct 2024 Personality, and the pathology that comes from it, develops in particular constellations from the interaction of a broad but finite range of instinctual needs (tied to temperament) and the environment's ability or inability to respond to them.
“personality and pathology as a result of personality... Develops in particular constellations as a consequence of the interaction of a broad but finite range of instinctual needs, which is related to temperament, as you said, and the environment's ability or inability to respond to them”
5:40What Psychiatrists Get Wrong About Personality DisordersOct 2024 Borderline problems stem from attachment and bonding, which come earlier in development than issues of the self and of how we see ourselves and others.
“I understand borderline issues stemming from issues with attachment and bonding, which occurs earlier than issues of the self and development of self and others”
33:57What Psychiatrists Get Wrong About Personality DisordersOct 2024 Put simply, borderline personality organization is stunted, slowed or difficult interpersonal and emotional development: how we understand and feel about ourselves, our relationships and other people.
“it's a stunted or slowed or difficult emotional development, interpersonal and emotional development, how to understand ourselves and feel about ourselves and about our relationships and other people”
28:21You Can See Everything Psychological Analysis by Clinical & Forensic PsychiatristsOct 2026
Wicked developmental environments
A wicked learning environment is one where information is incomplete or hidden and the results of your actions are delayed, inconsistent or absent. A lot of difficulty in personality and development comes from growing up in one: in an inconsistent environment you do not learn confidence and trust in yourself and the world.
“A wicked learning environment On the other hand, it is where information is incomplete or hidden. What happens as a result of your actions is delayed, inconsistent or absent”
24:30Tips to Avoid Burnout in Psychiatry (Outpatient, mostly)Mar 2026 Also said in 1 more episode
“I think that a lot of difficulties in life and personality and development come from wicked environments in the developmental environment, right? If you grew up in an inconsistent environment like that, then you don't learn confidence and trust in yourself and the world”
24:52Tips to Avoid Burnout in Psychiatry (Outpatient, mostly)Mar 2026
From these episodes
- You Can See Everything Psychological Analysis by Clinical & Forensic PsychiatristsOct 2026 · 1 point
- Tips to Avoid Burnout in Psychiatry (Outpatient, mostly)Mar 2026 · 2 points
- What Psychiatrists Get Wrong About Personality DisordersOct 2024 · 3 points
Every point above is something said on the Psychofarm podcast, with the words as spoken and a link to the moment in the episode. It is education, not medical advice, and an episode reflects what we thought when we recorded it.