Interpreation of social situations related to personality disorder

The study was published in
Child & Adolecent Psychiatry

A study Conducted by Carla Sharp finds empirical evidence that hypermentalization in teens and symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder. Mentalization is the ability to understand and attribute feelings and thoughts to others and predict their behavior. This ability seems is heightened in individuals suffering from BPD and this study links hypermentalization with symptoms of BPD. This study took two years and included 111 subjects at the age of 12 to 17.
These results are somewhat contradictory to some theories of BPD. For example has a therapy form named Mentalization Based Therapy been used to treat individuals who suffer from BPD, but the main goal of this type of therapy is to enhance the mentalization capabilities of those with BPD based on the idea that it is lacking in those who suffer from BPD. Mentalization Based therapy has been shown to have good effect in several studies.
This study is the first to find a link between hypermentalization in teens and symptoms of BPD according to author, so it is important for its results to be replicated in order to conclude about this matter. The results, however, are beneficial in order to diagnose early symptoms of BPD in order to start treatment early by teaching the teenagers not to overestimate thoughts and feeling of others and instead to stick to facts.