F60.3 ICD-10-CA code: Emotionally unstable personality disorder
F60.3 is the ICD-10-CA code for “Emotionally unstable personality disorder” in CIHI’s FY 2026–2027 release, in effect from Apr 1, 2026.
Official description
F60.3Emotionally unstable personality disorder
Short description: Emotionally unstable personality disrd
ICD-10-CA · Canada · Also written F603
Index terms
Entries in CIHI’s alphabetical index that lead to F60.3. Searching the index by the condition the note names is how coders reach this code.
- Quarrelsomeness
- Emotionality, pathological
- Personality (disorder), explosive
- Disorder (of), personality, labile
- Instability, emotional (excessive)
- Personality (disorder), aggressive
- Personality (disorder), borderline
- Instability, personality (emotional)
- Disorder (of), personality, explosive
- Disorder (of), personality, aggressive
- Disorder (of), personality, borderline
- Personality (disorder), labile (emotional)
- Personality (disorder), emotionally unstable
- Personality (disorder), unstable (emotional)
- Disorder (of), personality, unstable (emotional)
- Disorder (of), personality, emotional instability
- Excitability, abnormal, under minor stress (personality disorder)
Notes for F60.3
As CIHI prints them, with any note F60.3 takes from the headings above it.
Includes
- Personality (disorder):• aggressive• borderline• explosive
- Disorders of psychological developmentFrom Chapter 5: Mental and behavioural disorders (F00-F99)
Excludes
Conditions classified elsewhere.
- Dissocial personality disorder (F60.2)
- Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99)From Chapter 5: Mental and behavioural disorders (F00-F99)
Note
- Personality disorder characterized by a definite tendency to act impulsively and without consideration of the consequences; the mood is unpredictable and capricious. There is a liability to outbursts of emotion and an incapacity to control the behavioural explosions. There is a tendency to quarrelsome behaviour and to conflicts with others, especially when impulsive acts are thwarted or censored. Two types may be distinguished: the impulsive type, characterized predominantly by emotional instability and lack of impulse control, and the borderline type, characterized in addition by disturbances in self-image, aims, and internal preferences, by chronic feelings of emptiness, by intense and unstable interpersonal relationships, and by a tendency to self-destructive behaviour, including suicide gestures and attempts.
- These are severe disturbances in the personality and behavioural tendencies of the individual; not directly resulting from disease, damage, or other insult to the brain, or from another psychiatric disorder; usually involving several areas of the personality; nearly always associated with considerable personal distress and social disruption; and usually manifest since childhood or adolescence and continuing throughout adulthood.From F60 Specific personality disorders
- This block includes a variety of conditions and behaviour patterns of clinical significance which tend to be persistent and appear to be the expression of the individual's characteristic lifestyle and mode of relating to himself or herself and others. Some of these conditions and patterns of behaviour emerge early in the course of individual development, as a result of both constitutional factors and social experience, while others are acquired later in life. Specific personality disorders (F60.-), mixed and other personality disorders (F61.-), and enduring personality changes (F62.-) are deeply ingrained and enduring behaviour patterns, manifesting as inflexible responses to a broad range of personal and social situations. They represent extreme or significant deviations from the way in which the average individual in a given culture perceives, thinks, feels and, particularly, relates to others. Such behaviour patterns tend to be stable and to encompass multiple domains of behaviour and psychological functioning. They are frequently, but not always, associated with various degrees of subjective distress and problems of social performance.From F60-F69 Disorders of adult personality and behaviour
Where F60.3 sits
- 1ChapterChapter 5: Mental and behavioural disorders (F00-F99)
- 2Block F60-F69Disorders of adult personality and behaviour
- 3Category F60Specific personality disorders
- 4Valid code F60.3Emotionally unstable personality disorder
Source and release
- Data release
- ICD-10-CA · FY 2026–2027
- Effective date
- Apr 1, 2026
- Publisher
- CIHI
This page is built from the ICD-10-CA catalog that Vero Codes reads when it suggests codes: Canadian Institute for Health Information’s FY 2026–2027 release, imported from the publisher’s file and checked against it. The description, notes and structured data come from the same record.
Frequently asked questions
What does ICD-10-CA code F60.3 mean?
F60.3 is the ICD-10-CA code for “Emotionally unstable personality disorder” in CIHI’s ICD-10-CA FY 2026–2027 release.
Where is F60.3 in ICD-10-CA?
F60.3 sits under F60 Specific personality disorders, within F60-F69 Disorders of adult personality and behaviour, within Chapter 5: Mental and behavioural disorders (F00-F99).
What coding notes apply to F60.3?
ICD-10-CA lists Note, Includes, Excludes notes for F60.3, including those from the headings it sits under. They are listed on this page with where each one comes from.
Which ICD-10-CA release does this page use?
It uses CIHI’s FY 2026–2027 release, in effect from Apr 1, 2026 to Mar 31, 2027. It is a reference: confirm the code against the current list and the payer’s rules before you submit it.
Codes beside F60.3
View F60F60.0Paranoid personality disorderF60.1Schizoid personality disorderF60.2Dissocial personality disorderF60.4Histrionic personality disorderF60.5Anankastic personality disorderF60.6Anxious [avoidant] personality disorderF60.7Dependent personality disorderF60.8Other specific personality disordersF60.9Personality disorder, unspecified