The experience of treatment of persons with concomitant psychotic and borderline personality disorders

Improved mental health among LABILE study participants: A qualitative exploration

Results of the LABILE trial showed no difference between people with BPD who were prescribed lamotrigine and those on placebo. However, most study participants experienced sustained improvement in their mental health during the trial. We conducted a thematic analysis of qualitative data from interviews with 47 LABILE study participants to identify factors that may have contributed to this improvement. We identified three main themes: initial reasons and expectations regarding trial participation, patients' experiences of the trial and areas of change. Reasons for participating in the trial included a search for consistent and stable professional care as well as altruistic motives. Improvements in symptoms over the course of the trial were explained by several factors including consistency provided by the research team, salience of the social context and the availability of alternative support networks. While participants appreciated the autonomy provided by the voluntary nature of the trial, they felt that improvements stemmed from the 'structure' brought about by their actively engaging in the study. This study highlights the importance of clear and transparent communication when treating people with BPD. Mental health professionals should ensure that services for people with BPD are consistent and structured. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Personality traits and psychotic symptoms in recent onset of psychosis patients

OBJECTIVE

Personality in patients with psychosis, and particularly its relation to psychotic symptoms in recent onset of psychosis (ROP) patients, is understudied. The aims of this research were to study the relation between dimensional and categorical clinical personality traits and symptoms, as well as the effects that symptoms, sex and age have on clinically significant personality traits.

METHODS

Data for these analyses were obtained from 94 ROP patients. The Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale were used to assess personality and symptoms. Correlational Analysis, Mann-Whitney test, and, finally, logistic regression were carried out.

RESULTS

The negative dimension was higher in patients with schizoid traits. The excited dimension was lower for those with avoidant and depressive traits. The anxiety and depression dimension was higher for patients with dependent traits. The positive dimension was lower for patients with histrionic and higher for patients with compulsive traits. Logistic regression demonstrated that gender and the positive and negative dimensions explained 35.9% of the variance of the schizoid trait. The excited dimension explained 9.1% of the variance of avoidant trait. The anxiety and depression dimension and age explained 31.3% of the dependent trait. Gender explained 11.6% of the histrionic trait, 14.5% of the narcissistic trait and 11.6% of the paranoid trait. Finally gender and positive dimension explained 16.1% of the compulsive trait.

CONCLUSIONS

The study highlights the importance of studying personality in patients with psychosis as it broadens understating of the patients themselves and the symptoms suffered.

Raiders of the Lost Art: A review of published evaluations of inpatient mental health care experiences emanating from the United Kingdom, Portugal, Canada, Switzerland, Germany and Australia

Forming interpersonal therapeutic relationships with mental health Service Users remains a key aspect of the practice of Psychiatric/Mental Health nurses. Given the omnipresence of the concept within the relevant literature the reader could be forgiven for asking: why would Psychiatric/Mental Health nurses opine about something so basic, so ubiquitous and so central to the theory and practice of our discipline? While the authors could locate no substantive argument that refutes the role or value of such relationships, a sizable, growing and reasonably consistent body of work has emerged, which appears to indicate that this centrality and value is not necessarily reflected in many clinical practice settings. Accordingly, we draw on the published evaluations of mental health care emanating from the United Kingdom, Portugal, Canada, Switzerland, Germany and Australia, compare these findings and highlight similarities or/and congruence and discuss a range of issues arising out of the findings. Alas, the findings seem to depict a mental health care inpatient experience that is often devoid of warm therapeutic relationships, respectful interactions, information or choice about treatment and any kind of formal/informal 'talk therapy'. Instead such care experiences are personified by: coercion, disinterest, inhumane practices, custodial and controlling practitioners and a gross over use of pharmacological 'treatments'.

Avatar therapy for persecutory auditory hallucinations: What is it and how does it work?

We have developed a novel therapy based on a computer program, which enables the patient to create an avatar of the entity, human or non-human, which they believe is persecuting them. The therapist encourages the patient to enter into a dialogue with their avatar, and is able to use the program to change the avatar so that it comes under the patient's control over the course of six 30-min sessions and alters from being abusive to becoming friendly and supportive. The therapy was evaluated in a randomised controlled trial with a partial crossover design. One group went straight into the therapy arm: "immediate therapy". The other continued with standard clinical care for 7 weeks then crossed over into Avatar therapy: "delayed therapy". There was a significant reduction in the frequency and intensity of the voices and in their omnipotence and malevolence. Several individuals had a dramatic response, their voices ceasing completely after a few sessions of the therapy. The average effect size of the therapy was 0.8. We discuss the possible psychological mechanisms for the success of Avatar therapy and the implications for the origins of persecutory voices.

Psychotic symptoms in patients with borderline personality disorder: prevalence and clinical management

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

The aim of this article is to review findings on the prevalence, phenomenology and treatment of psychotic features in borderline personality disorder (BPD), and to discuss factors that might be related to their occurrence.

RECENT FINDINGS

Of patients with BPD about 20-50% report psychotic symptoms. Hallucinations can be similar to those in patients with psychotic disorders in terms of phenomenology, emotional impact, and their persistence over time. Although more research is needed on the exact nature of psychotic phenomena in patients with BPD, terms like pseudo-psychotic or quasi-psychotic are misleading and should be avoided. Childhood trauma might play an important role in the development of psychotic symptoms in patients with BPD, as in other populations. More research is necessary on the role of comorbid disorders, especially posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Atypical antipsychotics seem to be beneficial in some patients; evidence on psychotherapy of psychotic symptoms is sparse.

SUMMARY

Psychotic symptoms, especially hallucinations, seem to be an important feature of BPD. More research on potential mediators and adequate treatment approaches for psychotic symptoms in BPD is needed, and current diagnostic systems might require revision to emphasise psychotic symptoms.