Time perception and lived experience in personality disorders: differences across types, dimensions and severity

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry and Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Psychopathology

Background:

• Altered temporal experience is a core feature in psychiatric conditions like borderline personality disorder (BPD).
• Research often scrutinizes BPD while overlooking other personality disorders (PD).
• A dimensional approach to PD emphasizes examining subtypes and shared lived experiences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the temporality of personality disorders (PD) for the first time.
• To explore the relationship between symptom severity and lived time in PD.
• To combine objective time perception measures with phenomenological interpretations.

Main Methods:

• 63 participants diagnosed with various personality disorders (PD) according to ICD-10.
• Utilized the Polish Short Version of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (PS-ZTPI) and Cottle's Circles Test (CT) for temporal experience assessment.
• Controlled for personality functioning levels and maladaptive traits using standardized scales.

Main Results:

• PD individuals showed greater orientation toward negative past and less toward positive past and future compared to healthy controls.
• Pre-reflective temporal experience in PD was dominated by the past or future, marginalizing the present.
• Borderline personality disorder (BPD) was distinct with higher present-hedonistic and lower future orientation.

Conclusions:

• Temporality is a crucial aspect of lived experience in PD, potentially linked to disturbed self-experience.
• The severity of PD symptoms directly correlates with temporal distortions, particularly negative past orientation.
• Findings support a dimensional view of PD, highlighting shared temporal experiences across different subtypes.