[Borderline personality disorder and bipolar II disorder--similarities and differences]

Since both borderline personality disorder (BPD) and bipolar II disorder (BP-II) are common psychiatric diagnoses due to their co-morbidity and similar characteristics, some researchers suggested they coexist along a spectrum of cyclical affective disorders. As part of the ongoing debate regarding these central diagnoses, a few studies were recently conducted. The results showed that patients with BPD reported higher Levels of impulsiveness and hostility across Axis I diagnostic groups. Furthermore, refining the impulsivity scale revealed different types of impulsivity in the two disorders. This should be carefully considered as impulsivity is known to predict suicidal behavior in both disorders. Subjective reported depression differed across groups, with BPD patients reporting higher Levels of cognitive and anxiety-related symptoms, supporting the notion that BPD patients show increased sensitivity to negative emotional states. Thus, providing further evidence that BP-II and BPD are distinct diagnostic entities. On the other hand, recent studies didn't attain statistically significant differences between bipolar disorder and BPD, although BPD patients displayed higher scores than unipolar patients in mood and cognition depressive subdomains. Further research is still needed to clarify this diagnostic and clinical question.