Recognizable symptoms and features of borderline personality disorder (BPD) appear during adolescence. However, there has been resistance to diagnose or research this disorder prior to adulthood because of clinical lore that BPD is a long-standing illness and that personality traits are not stable until adulthood. This has resulted in little…

Female offenders' mental health needs have consistently been shown to exceed those of male offenders. Incarcerated women report higher rates of violent victimization, major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, mood disorders, substance use disorders, and personality disorders. For years, researchers have examined the human-animal…

Objective: To document the adult adjustment of survivors of childhood institutional abuse. Method: Two hundred and forty-seven adult survivors of institutional abuse with a mean age of 60 were interviewed with a protocol that included the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, modules from the Structured Clinical Interview for Axis I Disorders of DSM IV…

The neurobiology of borderline personality disorder (BPD) remains unclear. Dysfunctions of several neurobiological systems, including serotoninergic, dopaminergic, and other neurotransmitter systems, have been discussed. Here we present a theory that alterations in the sensitivity of opioid receptors or the availability of endogenous opioids…

Personality disorders (PDs) arise from core psychopathology of interpersonal relationships and understanding of self and others. The distorted representations of self and others, as well as unhealthy relationships that characterize persons with various PDs, indicate the possibility that persons with PDs have insecure attachment. Insecure…

Changes in attachment organization and reflective function (RF) were assessed as putative mechanisms of change in 1 of 3 year-long psychotherapy treatments for patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Ninety patients reliably diagnosed with BPD were randomized to transference-focused psychotherapy (TFP), dialectical behavior…

This case study examines the effects of neurofeedback (EEG biofeedback) training on affect regulation in a fifty-five year-old man with a history marked by fear, rage, alcoholism, chronic unemployment and multiple failed treatments. He had been diagnosed with ADHD and attachment disorder and met criteria for anti-social personality disorder. The…