-
Don’t discount suicide attempts in borderline patients
No matter how many times borderline personality disorder patients seem to “cry wolf”, the threat of suicide is real and needs to be taken seriously. Don’t discount suicide attempts in borderline patients By: M. ALEXANDER OTTO, Clinical Psychiatry News APR. 22, 2014 AT THE ANNUAL AAS CONFERENCE VITALS Major finding: Following suicide attempts, patients with borderline personality features scored a mean of 14.51 points and nonborderline patients a mean of 12.96 on the Beck Suicide Intent Scale. Borderline patients scored a mean of 2.25 points and nonborderline patients a mean of 2.39 on the Medical Lethality Rating Scale. The differences were not significant. Data Source: Surveys of 90 patients admitted…
-
My girl has not eaten for a year but NHS refuses to help
A mother whose anorexic daughter has refused food for a year has criticised the NHS for failing to provide the life-saving treatment she needs. Emma Duffy: ‘My girl has not eaten for a year but NHS refuses to help’ A mother whose anorexic daughter has refused food for a year has criticised the NHS for failing to provide the life-saving treatment she needs. Beverley Duffy’s daughter, Emma, who also suffers from borderline personality disorder, relies on liquid nutrition through a tube. But the 24-year-old has been refused a bed at The Retreat, in York – one of the nation’s only units to treat eating disorders and BPD together – on…
-
Learning that there is a better way than self-harm
A new programme is being rolled out across the country to teach people who are severely suicidal and who repeatedly self-harm that there is a less destructive way to manage their emotional pain. Those who repeatedly self- harm are often diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD), which is characterised by difficulties in managing emotions, in suicidality and continual self-harm. Dr Marsha Linehan, a psychologist at the University of Washington, has led a crusade to find an effective treatment approach for BPD and has been credited internationally with developing the most effective treatment to date – dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT). Linehan spent a week in Ireland at the start of the year…
-
Targeted Therapy Halves Suicide Attempts in Borderline Personality Disorder
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) reduced suicide attempts by half compared with other types of psychotherapy available in the community in patients with borderline personality disorder, an NIMH-funded study has found. DBT also excelled at reducing use of emergency room and inpatient services and more than halved therapy dropout rates compared to the mostly traditional approaches, report Marsha Linehan, Ph.D., University of Washington, and colleagues in the July 2006 issue ofArchives of General Psychiatry. “All treatments are not equal for such suicidal patients,” said Linehan. Borderline personality disorder is a difficult-to-treat mental illness affecting up to two percent of adults, 5.8-8.7 million Americans, mostly young women. People with this disorder of emotion…
-
Borderline Personality Disorder: Brain Differences Related to Disruptions in Cooperation in Relationships
Different patterns of brain activity in people with borderline personality disorder were associated with disruptions in the ability to recognize social norms or modify behaviors that likely result in distrust and broken relationships, according to an NIMH-funded study published online in the August 8, 2008 issue of Science. Borderline personality disorder is a serious mental illness noted by unstable moods, behavior and relationships. Each year, 1.4 percent of adults in the United States have this disorder,1 which is widely viewed as being difficult to treat. Using brain imaging and game theory, a mathematical approach to studying social interactions, the researchers offer a potential new way to define and describe this mental illness. They…
-
Unpleasant Words Trigger Strong Startle Response in People with Borderline Personality Disorder
Potential physiological marker for a severe mental disorder August 22, 2007 • Science Update Adults with borderline personality disorder (BPD) showed excessive emotional reactions when looking at words with unpleasant meanings compared to healthy people during an emotionally stimulating task, according to NIMH-funded researchers. They also found that people with more severe BPD showed a greater difference in emotional responding compared to people with less severe BPD. The study was published in the August 1, 2007, issue of Biological Psychiatry. Borderline Personality Disorder is a serious mental illness characterized by intense fear of abandonment and/or rejection, problems controlling emotions, troubled relationships, impulsive or reckless behaviors, and other symptoms. The disorder affects roughly 1.4 percent…