scholarly journals Psychotic-Like Symptoms and the Temporal Lobe in Trauma-Related Disorders: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Assessment of Potential Malingering

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 247054701879704
Author(s):  
Francesca L. Schiavone ◽  
Margaret C. McKinnon ◽  
Ruth A. Lanius
Keyword(s):  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Temporal Lobe ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Dissociative Disorders ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Post Traumatic

Objective To overview the phenomenology, etiology, assessment, and treatment of psychotic-like symptoms in trauma-related disorders focusing on the proposed role of temporal lobe dysfunction. Method We describe the literature pertaining to (i) psychotic-like symptoms and temporal lobe dysfunction in trauma-related disorders and (ii) psychological testing profiles in trauma-related disorders. We define trauma-related disorders as borderline personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and the dissociative disorders. Our search terms were dissociative disorders, temporal lobe, trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, borderline personality disorder, psychosis, and malingering. Results Trauma-related psychotic-like symptoms are common and can differ in phenomenology from primary psychotic symptoms. Hallucinations consist of auditory and nonauditory content that may or may not relate to traumatic content. Child voices are highly suggestive of complex dissociative disorders. Critically, not only do these symptoms resemble those seen in temporal lobe epilepsy, but the temporal lobe is implicated in trauma-related disorders, thus providing a plausible neurobiological explanation. Despite such evidence, these symptoms are frequently considered atypical and misdiagnosed. Indeed, common structured psychological assessment tools categorize these symptoms as possible indicators of invalid testing profiles. Conclusion Psychotic-like symptoms are common in trauma-related disorders, may be related to temporal lobe dysfunction, and are frequently misinterpreted. This may lead to ineffective treatment and inappropriate determinations of malingering in the forensic system.

Borderline Disorder and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: An Equivalence?

1993 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isla Lonie
Keyword(s):  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Traumatic Stress ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Verbal Form ◽  
Therapeutic Milieu ◽  
Post Traumatic

This paper draws attention to various similarities between Borderline Personality Disorder and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. It is argued that the former may be considered to be an equivalent of the latter, with the difference that the trauma has either undergone repression or, having been suffered before the establishment of speech, has not been registered in verbal form. The criteria for Borderline Personality Disorder are presented in terms of symptoms of failed attachment consistent with early trauma, and various research papers linking these concepts are considered. Other research in infant attachment suggests intergenerational links between disorganised attachment patterns in infancy and parents with unresolved problems with their own parents. Research concerning the biochemical underpinning of emotional responses is quoted to link these conditions more securely, and may offer conceptual framework in which to understand the need of these patients for therapeutic milieu in which early developmental needs may be understood.

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