PubMed · 1985 · 306 citations · 0 references
VaguenessFamily HistoryLexical SemanticsSemanticsPersonality DisorderPsychologyLanguage StudiesPersonality DisordersSemantic Analysis (Linguistics)PsychiatryDiagnostic SubgroupsDepressionMorphologyPsychiatric DisorderMood SpectrumFamily History PerspectivesSchizophreniaMedicineLinguisticsPsychopathologyBipolar Disorder
A prospective cohort of 100 outpatients labeled borderline was followed for 6–36 months, with baseline assessments of phenomenology, development, and family history, revealing that 66 met criteria for various mood or bipolar disorders, 16 for schizotypal personality, and the remainder for other psychiatric subtypes. Borderlines showed a markedly higher risk of major affective but not schizophrenic breakdowns versus nonborderline controls, shared histories of substance abuse, turbulent biographies, and unstable early homes, and family histories most resembled bipolar controls, leading authors to conclude that the adjective “borderline” does not define a distinct psychopathologic syndrome.
Outpatients diagnosed as borderline (N = 100) were prospectively followed for 6-36 months and examined from phenomenologic developmental, and family history perspectives. At index evaluation, 66 met criteria for recurrent depressive, dysthymic, cyclothymic, or bipolar II disorders, and 16 for those of schizotypal personality. Other subgroups included sociopathic, somatization, panic-agoraphobic, attention deficit, epileptic, and identify disorders. Compared with nonborderline personality controls, borderlines had a significantly elevated risk for major affective but not for schizophrenic breakdowns during follow-up. Prominent substance abuse history, tempestuous biographies, and unstable early home environment were common to all diagnostic subgroups. In family history, borderlines were most like bipolar controls, and differed significantly from schizophrenic, unipolar, and personality controls. It is concluded that, despite considerable overlap with subaffective disorders, the current adjectival use of this rubric does not identify a specific psychopathologic syndrome.