What are the key diagnostic criteria for Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD) according to the DSM-5?

The key diagnostic criteria for Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD) according to the DSM-5 include a pervasive pattern of preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism, and mental and interpersonal control, at the expense of flexibility, openness, and efficiency.

This pattern is manifested by at least four of the following traits: excessive devotion to work and productivity to the exclusion of leisure and friendships; perfectionism that interferes with task completion; rigidity and stubbornness; over-conscientiousness and inflexibility about matters of morality, ethics, or values; reluctance to delegate tasks unless others submit to their exact way of doing things; preoccupation with details, rules, lists, order, organization, or schedules to the extent that the major point of the activity is lost; and miserly spending style toward both self and others.

Individuals with OCPD often display a marked need for control and may be excessively devoted to work and productivity, often at the expense of relationships and leisure activities. Their perfectionism can lead to significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

These criteria reflect the DSM-5’s emphasis on enduring personality traits that are inflexible and maladaptive, distinguishing OCPD from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), which is characterized by true obsessions and compulsions.

Recent literature highlights the complexity of OCPD, noting its strong links with perfectionism and its overlap with other conditions, but the DSM-5 criteria remain the clinical standard for diagnosis (Starcevic and Brakoulias, 2014; Diedrich and Voderholzer, 2015; Redden et al., 2023) ¹.