Treatment of personality disorders

Modifications à la psychothérapie focalisée sur le transfert (PFT) pour le traitement des adolescents avec une identité diffuse

Cet article présente une version modifiée de la psychothérapie focalisée sur le transfert (PFT) appliquée aux adolescents démontrant une identité diffuse. Cette méthode a déjà démontré son efficacité auprès d’adultes souffrant d’importants problèmes de diffusion de l’identité. Nous signalons l’importance de distinguer la crise identitaire normale à l’adolescence de la diffusion de l’identité, afin de bien repérer les adolescents qui pourraient bénéficier de ce traitement. Les principales modifications apportées à la PFT pour s’adapter aux adolescents impliquent divers changements : des changements quant à la fréquence et à la durée de certaines techniques particulières (par exemple une clarification accrue ; une plus grande attention aux relations extra-transférentielles avant d’aborder directement le transfert), des changements quant aux tactiques (par exemple l’inclusion de la famille à l’étape de l’évaluation et dans le contrat qui établit les phases de traitement, l’inclusion d’interventions de soutien dans le milieu tout en gardant la position analytique au cours des séances), des changements quant aux stratégies (par exemple tenter de lever les blocages qui nuisent au développement normal de l’intégration de l’identité, plutôt que de « forcer la maturation »). Le traitement vise à améliorer les relations de l’adolescent avec ses amis, ses parents et ses professeurs ; à clarifier ses objectifs dans la vie ; à acquérir une estime de lui-même et à être mieux préparé à s’investir dans les relations amoureuses.

Depressive experiences in inpatients with borderline personality disorder

We investigate the quality of dependent and self-critical depressive experiences in a hospitalized sample of depressed (n = 17), depressed borderline (n = 29), and borderline non-depressed inpatients (n = 10). Subjects were administered structured diagnostic interviews for axis I and axis II along with the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised Depression Scale (SCL-90-R-DS) and the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ). As predicted, there were no differences between the three groups in overall level of impairment or severity of depression. Phenomenologically, however, depressive experiences were quite different. Subjects with borderline personality disorder, with and without a diagnosed depressive disorder, scored higher than subjects with depression only on the measure of anaclitic neediness. Further analyses revealed that anaclitic neediness was significantly associated with interpersonal distress, self-destructive behaviors, and impulsivity. Findings suggest the importance of considering phenomenological aspects of depression in borderline pathology.

Executive neurocognition, memory systems, and borderline personality disorder

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a common, disabling, and burdensome psychiatric condition. It is characterized by turbulent fluctuations of negative emotions and moods, unstable and conflictual interpersonal relationships, an incoherent and often contradictory sense of self, and impulsive, potentially lethal self-injurious behaviors. The neurobehavioral facets of BPD have not been extensively studied. However, clinical theoreticians and researchers have proposed that the symptoms and behaviors of BPD are, in part, associated with disruptions in basic neurocognitive processes. This review summarizes and evaluates research that has investigated the relationship between executive neurocognition, memory systems, and BPD. Three historical phases of research are delineated and reviewed, and the methodological and conceptual challenges this body of investigation highlights are discussed. Laboratory-based assessment of executive neurocognition and memory systems is integral to an interdisciplinary approach to research in BPD. Such an approach holds promise in elucidating the neurobehavioral facets, development, diagnostic boundaries, prevention, and optimal interventions for this debilitating and enigmatic disorder.

The mechanisms of change in the treatment of borderline personality disorder with transference focused psychotherapy

We address how Transference Focused Psychotherapy (TFP) conceptualizes mechanisms in the cause and maintenance of borderline personality disorder (BPD) as well as change mechanisms both within the patient and in terms of specific therapists' interventions that engender patient change. Mechanisms of change at the level of the patient involve the integration of polarized representations of self and others; mechanisms of change at the level of the therapist's interventions include the structured treatment approach and the use of clarification, confrontation, and "transference" interpretations in the here and now of the therapeutic relationship. In addition, we briefly review evidence from our group regarding the following hypothesized mechanisms of change: contract setting, integration of representations, and changes in reflective functioning (RF) and affect regulation.

The implications of attachment theory and research for understanding borderline personality disorder

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a highly prevalent, chronic, and debilitating psychiatric problem characterized by a pattern of chaotic and self-defeating interpersonal relationships, emotional lability, poor impulse control, angry outbursts, frequent suicidality, and self-mutilation. Recently, psychopathology researchers and theorists have begun to understand fundamental aspects of BPD such as unstable, intense interpersonal relationships, feelings of emptiness, bursts of rage, chronic fears of abandonment and intolerance for aloneness, and lack of a stable sense of self as stemming from impairments in the underlying attachment organization. These investigators have noted that the impulsivity, affective lability, and self-damaging actions that are the hallmark of borderline personality occur in an interpersonal context and are often precipitated by real or imagined events in relationships. This article reviews attachment theory and research as a means of providing a developmental psychopathology perspective on BPD. Following a brief review of Bowlby's theory of attachment, and an overview of the evidence with respect to the major claims of attachment theory, I discuss individual differences, the evidence that these differences are rooted in patterns of interaction with caregivers, and how these patterns have important implications for evolving adaptations and development. Following this discussion, I present recent work linking attachment theory and BPD, focusing on the implications for understanding the etiology and treatment of BPD. In conclusion, I address some of the salient issues that point to the direction for future research efforts.

The association between attentional and executive controls in the expression of borderline personality disorder features: a preliminary study

BACKGROUND

Basic neurocognitive functions such as attention and executive cognitive control represent promising endophenotypes that may improve understanding of the development and expression of borderline personality disorders (BPD). We evaluated the association between performance on the Attention Network Task (ANT) and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), two neurocognitive laboratory instruments, and the extent of BPD psychopathology.

SAMPLING AND METHODS

We studied 22 BPD-diagnosed individuals who were independently administered these two laboratory assays. Performance on these tests was used as a predictor of the extent of BPD psychopathology.

RESULTS

Indexes of the ANT and the WCST were correlated with one another in this sample. Further, the extent of impairment in attention networks, specifically the orienting network, was associated with a greater spectrum of BPD psychopathology, independent of the effects of age and medication status. Finally, ANT and WCST performance were uncorrelated with general psychosocial functioning in this sample, implicating relative specificity to the extent, as contrasted with functional severity, of BPD psychopathology.

CONCLUSIONS

Attentional and executive functions are promising endophenotypic markers of BPD psychopathology. The implications of these findings are considered from developmental, experimental, and clinical perspectives.

The Personality Disorders Institute/Borderline Personality Disorder Research Foundation randomized control trial for borderline personality disorder: rationale, methods, and patient characteristics

The Personality Disorder Institute/Borderline Personality Disorder Research Foundation randomized control trial (PDI/BPDRF RCT) is a controlled outcome study for borderline personality disorder (BPD), in which 90 participants were randomized to one of three manualized and monitored, active psychosocial treatment conditions. These treatments are: (a) Transference-Focused Psychotherapy (TFP; Clarkin, Yeomans, & Kernberg, 1999), a treatment for BPD based on object-relational and psychoanalytic principles first applied to BPD by Kernberg (1996), notable for its particular emphasis on interpretation of object relations activated in the ongoing therapeutic relationship; (b) Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT; Linehan, 1993), a popular treatment for BPD, with evidence of efficacy (Linehan, Armstrong, Suarez, Allmon, & Heard, 1991) that emphasizes a balance between acceptance and change in its combination of cognitive-behavioral and Zen principles; and (c) supportive psychotherapy (Rockland, 1992), another object-relational and psychoanalytically based treatment for BPD which, in contrast to TFP, eschews transference interpretation and places primary emphasis on development of a collaborative engagement with the patient to foster identity development. Patients received medication, if clearly indicated, according to the treatment algorithm developed by Soloff (2000). This article describes the significance and rationale of the study and the overall design, methods, plan of analysis, and demographic characteristics of the recruited sample of patients.

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This review summarizes from biological research in obsessive-compulsive disorder. In particular, functional brain imaging studies investigating the effects of Symptom provocation, of behavioral and pharmacological treatment on brain activity and findings from neurochemical studies are presented with regard to the serotonergic System. We discuss a neurobiological model integrating the findings from brain imaging, functional anatomy and behavioral concepts which favors a functional imbalance within the orbitofrontal - basal ganglia - thalamus ciruit and focus on hypothesis for further research.