On the Borderline Syndrome and Its Relationship to Schizophrenia

This article explores the historical and phenomenological overlap between borderline personality disorder and schizophrenia, highlighting the presence of frank psychotic symptoms and psychotic and psychotic-like thinking in borderline psychopathology. Early theorists conceptualized borderline personality as a schizophrenia-like syndrome, and many pioneers in the understanding of borderline pathology began their careers with interest in schizophrenia. Similarities between the two syndromes include affect-laden perception; ideas of reference; paranoid tendencies, especially suspicious and reactive jealousy; and regression to paleologic rather than logical modes of thought. It is argued that these similarities may demonstrate the borderline syndrome's adjacency to schizophrenia on the continuum of psychopathology. This has potential relevance to the ongoing debate surrounding the appropriateness of the term borderline to describe this clinical syndrome.