It is refreshing to read a generally positive and optimistic editorial about borderline personality disorder and its long-term prognosis (Fonagy & Bateman, 2006). It is also reassuring to find the authors speculating about an issue long recognised by users of personality disorder services, that is, the ‘reality of iatrogenic harm’. We feel, however, that there is a worrying element to this piec...

It is refreshing to read a generally positive and optimistic editorial about borderline personality disorder and its long-term prognosis (Fonagy & Bateman, 2006). It is also reassuring to find the authors speculating about an issue long recognised by users of personality disorder services, that is, the ‘reality of iatrogenic harm’. We feel, however, that there is a worrying element to this piec...

als with comorbid PTSD and borderline personality disorder had greater odds of lifetime suicide attempt compared to individuals with either condition alone (4). We have shown that individuals with co-occurring PTSD and borderline personality disorder have higher odds of having a suicide attempt than either disorder alone (3, 4). These findings are in contrast to the findings of Harned and col-l...

It is refreshing to read a generally positive and optimistic editorial about borderline personality disorder and its long-term prognosis (Fonagy & Bateman, 2006). It is also reassuring to find the authors speculating about an issue long recognised by users of personality disorder services, that is, the ‘reality of iatrogenic harm’. We feel, however, that there is a worrying element to this piec...

It is refreshing to read a generally positive and optimistic editorial about borderline personality disorder and its long-term prognosis (Fonagy & Bateman, 2006). It is also reassuring to find the authors speculating about an issue long recognised by users of personality disorder services, that is, the ‘reality of iatrogenic harm’. We feel, however, that there is a worrying element to this piec...

OBJECTIVE Self-mutilation has traditionally been associated with borderline personality disorder, and seldom examined separately from suicide attempts. Clinical experience suggests that self-mutilation is common in bipolar disorder. METHODS A family study was conducted on the molecular genetics of depression and personality, in which the proband had been treated for depression. All probands a...

Few areas of psychiatric investigation have seen progress as radical as in the field of personality disorder, particularly the treatment of borderline personality disorder. The advance in the understanding of borderline personality disorder has been influenced by two developments: (a) the increasing recognition that the disorder has a far more benign course than previously thought; and (b) the ...

Background Insecure attachment is a precursor and correlate of borderline personality disorder. According to the mentalization-based theory of borderline personality disorder, the presence of insecure attachment derails the development of the capacity to mentalize, potentially resulting in borderline pathology. While one prior study found support for this notion in adolescents, it neglected a f...