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Updated: Aug 22, 2025
09:55
Use of a Psychophysiological Script-driven Imagery Experiment to Study Trauma-related Dissociation in Borderline Personality Disorder
Published on: March 8, 2018
12.6K
Pharmacological interventions for people with borderline personality disorder
Jutta M Stoffers-Winterling1, Ole Jakob Storebø2,3,4, Johanne Pereira Ribeiro2,4
1Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
|November 14, 2022
Summary
Psychotropic medications show little to no effect on borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptoms, self-harm, or psychosocial functioning. Further research is needed to explore effective pharmacological treatments for BPD.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Pharmacology
- Clinical Psychology
Background:
- High prescription rates of off-label psychotropic medications for borderline personality disorder (BPD).
- Patients with BPD often receive multiple psychotropic drugs concurrently for extended periods.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the efficacy of pharmacological treatments for individuals diagnosed with BPD.
- Evaluate effects on BPD symptom severity, self-harm, suicide-related outcomes, and psychosocial functioning.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of 46 randomized controlled trials (2769 participants).
- Searched multiple databases up to February 2022, including published and unpublished data.
- Assessed risk of bias and certainty of evidence using Cochrane's tool and GRADE approach.
Main Results:
- No significant difference observed between medications and placebo for primary outcomes (BPD symptom severity, self-harm, suicide-related outcomes, psychosocial functioning).
- Evidence for effects on primary outcomes was of very low to low certainty.
- Antipsychotics and mood stabilizers showed potential for slight reduction in interpersonal problems, but evidence was low certainty.
Conclusions:
- Current pharmacological therapies demonstrate little to no specific effectiveness in treating BPD pathology.
- Further research is essential to understand BPD's pathophysiological mechanisms.
- Need for trials including comorbidities, and focusing on male and adolescent populations.
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