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Published on: March 8, 2018
How repeated 15-minute assertiveness training sessions reduce wrist cutting in patients with borderline personality
1Department of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan. cxj13045@nifty.com
Objective:
The aim of this work was to examine a possible treatment for patients with borderline personality disorder who have wrist-cutting syndrome, a condition characterized by repeated, superficial wrist cutting in a non-suicidal fashion. Within the current healthcare system in Japan, the average amount of time a doctor can spend with a psychiatric outpatient is about 8 to 15 minutes. We, therefore, examined whether repeated 15-minute psychotherapy sessions to improve patient assertiveness would be effective for reducing wrist cutting and possibly other forms of self-mutilation.
Methods:
We treated 13 patients diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and wrist-cutting syndrome with assertiveness training during 15-minute, biweekly therapy sessions over a course of one to four years.
Results And Conclusions:
At the conclusion of psychotherapeutic treatment, 69% of outpatients showed a statistically significant reduction in wrist-cutting behavior.
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