DBT or Psychiatric Management for Borderline Personality Disorder

Almost all studies of cognitive-behavioral therapy, psychodynamic therapy, or dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) for patients with borderline personality disorder have lasted 1 year or less. Canadian investigators analyzed data from a longer, naturalistic, posttreatment follow-up of a randomized, controlled study of 180 patients with borderline personality disorder (JW Psychiatry Oct 19 2009).

Follow-up lasted 2 years after treatment was completed (i.e., 3 years following study entry). All patients had at least two prior suicidal or nonsuicidal self-injurious incidents, including one within 3 months of enrollment, and were initially randomized to 1-year programs of DBT or general psychiatric management. The control treatment was a manualiz…