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Imipramine treatment of borderline children: case reports with a controlled study
Insights
Imipramine medication significantly improved social interactions and reduced unusual behaviors in children with borderline syndrome. This finding supports its use in intensive inpatient treatment for this condition.
Area of Science:
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- Developmental Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
Background:
- The borderline syndrome of childhood presents unique challenges in diagnosis and treatment.
- Existing intensive hospital treatments have shown limited efficacy for some children.
- Understanding effective interventions for childhood borderline syndrome is crucial.
Observation:
- Three case histories illustrate the salient features of the borderline syndrome in children.
- Patients did not respond to intensive hospital treatment alone.
- The addition of imipramine (5 mg/kg/day) was investigated as a therapeutic intervention.
Findings:
- Imipramine treatment led to substantial improvements in adaptive peer interactions.
- Patient compliance and reduction in bizarre behaviors were observed with imipramine.
- A double-blind, imipramine-placebo crossover study confirmed these positive effects.
Implications:
- Imipramine should be considered as a key component of inpatient treatment for childhood borderline syndrome.
- Pharmacological interventions like imipramine may significantly enhance therapeutic outcomes.
- Further research into imipramine's efficacy in pediatric borderline syndrome is warranted.
Abstract:
The authors discuss the borderline syndrome of childhood, review the pertinent literature, and present three case histories demonstrating the salient features of the clinical syndrome. Each patient failed to benefit from intensive hospital treatment until imipramine (5 mg/kg/day) was added to the treatment regimen. One child was treated in a double-blind, imipramine-placebo crossover protocol. Substantial improvement with imipramine was demonstrated in adaptive peer interactions, compliance, and bizarre behaviors. This strongly supports consideration of imipramine a part of the intensive inpatient treatment of the borderline syndrome in children.