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OBJECTIVE: This exploratory study sought demographic and clinical correlates of self-mutilation (self-injury without suicidal intent) in borderline personality disorder. METHOD: Among 124 consecutively admitted inpatients with borderline personality disorder, there were 62 who did not mutilate themselves, 23 who mutilated themselves infrequently (fewer than five lifetime events), and 39 who mutilated themselves frequently (five or more lifetime events); each received ratings on numerous measures of psychopathology. RESULTS: Compared to nonmutilators, frequent mutilators were significantly more likely to be in outpatient treatment at the time of admission and had more weeks of prior outpatient and inpatient treatment; they were also more likely to receive comorbid diagnoses of current major depression, anorexia nervosa, and bulimia nervosa. Frequent mutilators had significantly higher group means on the Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation, were more likely to have attempted suicide, and were more likely to have attempted suicide more often than both infrequent mutilators and nonmutilators. The adjusted odds ratios from logistic regression analyses demonstrated that major depression, bulimia nervosa, number of prior suicide attempts, and acute suicidal ideation were each associated with greater risk of frequent mutilation. CONCLUSIONS: Borderline patients who frequently mutilate themselves may represent a subgroup of especially high utilizers of psychiatric treatment who are at particularly high risk for suicidal behavior and for comorbid major depression and eating disorders. Clinicians should consider aggressive treatment of comorbid axis I disorders and careful assessment of suicide risk in these patients.

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The authors investigated the prevalence of substance abuse in 137 inpatients with DSM-III borderline personality disorder. Ninety-two (67%) of these patients were given DSM-III substance use disorder diagnosis. The most frequently used substances were alcohol and sedative-hypnotics. When substance abuse was not used as a diagnostic criterion for borderline personality disorder, 32 (23%) of the 137 patients no longer met borderline criteria. These patients differed significantly from the rest of the patients in severity and course of illness. These data suggest that there might be a subgroup of borderline patients for whom substance use plays a primary role in the development of borderline psychopathology.

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Among 180 patients with DSM-III borderline personality disorder, patients with concurrent affective and substance use disorders had a higher rate of serious suicide attempts than other patients. Clinicians should be alert to axis I disorders in assessing suicide potential in borderline patients.

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In a retrospective study of 180 inpatients with DSM-III borderline personality disorder (BPD), the degree and direction of psychiatric comorbidity were used to examine the extent to which BPD is a homogeneous entity with clearly defined boundaries. Ninety-one percent of patients with BPD had one additional diagnosis, and 42% had two or more additional diagnoses. Both patients with BPD and controls with other personality disorders had similar rates and directions of comorbidity. The two groups did not differ significantly in prevalence of affective disorder. The DSM-III BPD appears to constitute a very heterogeneous category with unclear boundaries, overlapping with many different disorders but without a specific association with any one Axis I disorder. Comorbidity in patients with BPD may reflect base rates of psychopathology rather than anything inherent to BPD. Future studies should control for comorbidity to ensure homogeneity of comparison groups.

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Thirty-one patients with DSM-III panic disorder or agoraphobia with panic attacks, 13 normal controls, and 12 patients with other anxiety disorders were studied during ventilatory challenge with room air hyperventilation and 5% carbon dioxide inhalation. Patients also underwent sodium lactate infusion. Among the patients with panic disorder, 58% panicked with sodium lactate, 39% with 5% CO2, and 23% with room air hyperventilation. Of the other patients, four panicked with sodium lactate, none with 5% CO2, and one with room air hyperventilation. One normal control panicked with both sodium lactate and 5% CO2. Panic with CO2 was associated with an exaggerated ventilatory response and increases in plasma norepinephrine level and diastolic blood pressure. Patients with panic disorder may have hypersensitive CO2 receptors that, when triggered, evoke a subjective panic associated with an exaggerated ventilatory response and consequent hypocapnic alkalosis.

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Fluoxetine is a new antidepressant with pharmacologic effects apparently limited to blockade of neuronal serotonin reuptake. We entered 20 patients who met DSM-III criteria for either panic disorder or agoraphobia with panic attacks into an open, uncontrolled pilot study of fluoxetine. Four responded to placebo in the week before fluoxetine administration and were dropped from the study. Of the remaining 16 patients, nine were nonresponders and seven were responders, with complete cessation of their panic attacks. Eight of the nine nonresponders were unable to tolerate the side effects of fluoxetine. In contrast, all of the responders (and one nonresponder) experienced minimal side effects. Fluoxetine may be effective in the treatment of panic attacks, perhaps implicating the serotonergic system in the pathophysiology of panic disorder. Future studies should use very low doses of fluoxetine to initiate treatment.

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In an open trial, five of eight panic disorder patients and none of five control subjects panicked after inhalation of two breaths of 35% CO2 and 65% O2; none panicked after placebo. Using 35% CO2 to induce panic is safe, simple, and well tolerated and may provide a valuable laboratory model of panic.

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