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.

Danish study finds modern psychoanalytic therapy effective in treating personality disorders

Carsten René's book
on personality disorders

A new study, conducted by the psychology department of Aarhus University and the Clinic for Personality Disorders at Aarhus University Hospital, offers evidence that modern psychoanalytic therapy is effective in treating Personality Disorders. The study has been a run for the last seven years and was led by Carsten René Jørgensen who is a professor at Aarhus University. In the study, two versions of modern psychoanalytic treatments were compared but they mainly differed in intensity. One treatment was mainly a group therapy and the other group therapy combined with more intensive weekly sessions of individual therapy. The latter form resulted in better outcome where patients achieved a higher level in functioning, but both forms of therapy where highly effective. In order for the treatment to be successful it needs to be administered by well trained professionals and requires two years of therapy, sometimes longer. 85 patients have started treatment connected with the study of whom 65 have finished treatment. It is estimated that 10% of the danish population is suffering from personality disorders and around 2% of severe personality disorder, according to study.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121023101027.htm

Egomania – A documentary

Another documentary to be found on youtube is called Egomania. Egomania is an old word used to describe people who are obsessed with their own ego, and are today referred to as suffering from Narcissistic Personality Disorder. The documentary describes the symptoms of NPD and interviews people suffering from the disorder. Enjoy!

“Back From the Edge” – Borderline Personality Disorder

This is a documentary about Borderline Personality disorder created by the Borderline Personality Disorder Resource Center at NewYork-Presbyterian. Several patients describe how it is to have BPD and leading specialists on the disorder are interviewed as well. A very interesting video.

Black Swan

Black Swan Movie Poster

The 2010 movie Black Swan is surely interesting for anyone interested in Borderline Personality Disorder. It centers around a young ballet dancer named Nina. Her character portrays a number of symptoms common in Borderline Personality Disorder such as ‘black and white’ thinking, a common characteristic in borderline personality and episodes of idealisation, devaluation and her unstable sense of identity. The film was Oscar nominated and is rated 8,2 at IMDB.

Inside the mind of a Mafia Hitman

 

This is a very interesting video of an interview with one of the most notorious killers of our times. Richard Kuklinski was born in 1935 and died in 2006 in prison where he had been since 1988. He was sentenced to a life in prison after being convicted of 3 murders although the real number of victims was somewhere between one and two hundred. He served as a mafia hitman for over 30 years until he was caught. In this interview a psychiatrist talks to Kuklinski about his career as a hitman, his childhood and explains why he became so successful as a hitman. The explanation is in part that he suffered from a toxic mixture of personality disorders and grew up in a very dysfunctional home. A must see for all interested in personality disorders and forensic psychology. Wikipedia also has some information on Richard Kuklinski: http://en.wikipedia.org/

Mind Reading capacity in Borderline Personality Disorder

In a study published in 2012, the mind reading capacity of Borderline Personality Disorder patients was estimated. This mind reading capacity is often referred to as "Theory of mind", but that is a phrase describing the ability to understand the mental state of others. It has been hypothesized that those suffering from BPD have reduced capacities to mentalize others state of mind and that they have enhanced emotional sensitivity compared to others. This research compares 31 BPD patients to 27 healthy controls in order to compare their Theory of Mind. They used a test called "Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test" that consists of 36 black and white images of peoples eyes. The participants were then supposed to identify the emotion that the eyes where supposed to show. Results of the study showed that no difference was between the groups in their mind-reading accuracy. The BPD group did, however, show greater confidence in their answers than the control group. These high-confidence answers might be descriptive of the social interactions of BPD patients and contribute to their high rate of interpersonal conflicts since it is rigid and hard to change. Even a wrong answer with a lower confidence might be more beneficial to social relations since it prompts further reasoning processes and opens the possibility for a revised answer.

Find the full article here:
http://www.mendeley.com