The 10-year course of physically self-destructive acts reported by borderline patients and axis II comparison subjects

• Published in: Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica Vol. 117; no. 3; pp. 177 - 184
• Main Authors: Zanarini, M. C., Frankenburg, F. R., Reich, D. B., Fitzmaurice, G., Weinberg, I., Gunderson, J. G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.03.2008; Blackwell
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Biological and medical sciences; borderline personality disorder; Borderline Personality Disorder - diagnosis; Borderline Personality Disorder - epidemiology; Borderline Personality Disorder - psychology; Comparative studies; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; Female; Hospitalization; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Massachusetts; Medical sciences; Personality disorders; Personality Disorders - diagnosis; Personality Disorders - epidemiology; Personality Disorders - psychology; Prospective Studies; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Recurrence; Self destructive behavior; Self Mutilation - diagnosis; Self Mutilation - epidemiology; Self Mutilation - psychology; Self-Injurious Behavior - diagnosis; Self-Injurious Behavior - epidemiology; Self-Injurious Behavior - psychology; self-mutilation; Suicide; suicide attempts; Suicide, Attempted - psychology; Suicide, Attempted - statistics & numerical data; Suicides & suicide attempts; United States; North America; America; Massachusetts; Human; Social environment; Self injury; Borderline; Prevalence; Self evaluation; Mental health; Epidemiology; self- mutilation; Personality disorder; Suicide attempt; Follow up study; Young adult; borderline personality disorder; Evolution; Severity score; suicide attempts; Public health
• ISSN: 0001-690X; 1600-0447; 1600-0447
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.2008.01155.x

Objective:  The purpose of this paper was to determine the frequency and methods of two forms of physically self‐destructive acts (i.e. self‐mutilation and suicide attempts) reported by borderline patients and axis II comparison subjects over 10 years of prospective follow‐up. Method:  Two hundred and ninety borderline patients and 72 axis II comparison subjects were interviewed about their physically self‐destructive acts during their index admission and at five contiguous 2‐year follow‐up periods. Results:  It was found that a high percentage of borderline patients reported multiple acts and methods of each of these two forms of physically self‐destructive behavior prior to their index admission. It was also found that the percentage of borderline patients reporting multiple acts and methods declined significantly over time. However, these acts remained significantly more common among borderline patients than axis II comparison subjects. Conclusion:  The course of self‐mutilation and suicide attempts among borderline patients is initially more serious and ultimately more benign than previously recognized.