A framework for all seasons: Commentary on the special issue on mentalization in borderline personality disorder

It is interesting to consider whether impairment in the capacity to mentalize might be a persuasive way to describe the core pathology in most patients with a personality disorder (PD). It has long been recognized that a dimensional approach to understanding PDs is more useful than the traditional categorical diagnostic model. Studies are pointing to an underlying general factor as a latent dimension of borderline personality disorder (BPD), perhaps reflecting shared or common genetic endophenotypes as risk factors for the development of BPD or other PDs. With regard to the focus on mentalizing in particular, however one thinks about impairment in mentalizing as a core reflection of personality pathology, it is helpful to drill down to deeper levels. In these pages, the authors do a remarkable job of unpacking, to the granular level, the many components of mentalization and the attachment process.