Psychological Characteristics of Each Type According to Defense Mechanisms in Depression: Implications of Borderline Personality Organization Theory

Objective: According to Kernberg’s psychodynamic model of personality organization (2012), identity integration, defense mechanisms and reality testing allow the classification of personality functioning in three main organizations lying on a continuum of severity. A specific relation is hypothesized to exist between the continuum of personality organization and the spectrum of sexual pathology, ranging from some degree of sexual inhibition in the presence of the capacity for a stable love relationship (neurotic personality organization), to inordinate and chaotic sexual life combined with paraphilic features (borderline personality organization). The aim of the present study is to assess the relationship between features of BPO and the clinical relevance of paraphilic interests in a sample of women from the community. Design and Method: We sampled 224 women voluntarily recruited through adds posted on different websites. Volunteers were invited to participate in a research project on the “relationship between personality characteristics and sexual life”. After providing consent, all participants were invited to fill in a set of questionnaires including: - the Inventory of Personality Organization (Lenzenweger et al., 2001), to assess the main domains of personality structure according to Kernberg’s model; - a modified version of the Paraphilia Scale (Dawson et al., 2014). Results: We found that the presence of three markers of borderline personality organization (Instability of self/others, Instability of behaviour and Psychosis) is associated, in a linear fashion, to the presence and clinical relevance of paraphilic interests. Conclusions: Results support the importance of an accurate assessment of sexual life in order to obtain essential clinical information on personality functioning in clinical settings.

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Defense Mechanisms and Borderline Personality Organization Among COVID-19 Believers and Non-believers During Complete Lock-Down

Frontiers in Psychiatry ◽

10.3389/fpsyt.2021.700774 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Anna Zajenkowska ◽

Iwona Nowakowska ◽

Marta Bodecka-Zych ◽

Joanna Rajchert ◽

Izabela Kaźmierczak ◽

...

Keyword(s):

General Population ◽

Social Perception ◽

Defense Mechanisms ◽

Education Level ◽

Borderline Personality ◽

Place Of Residence ◽

Personality Organization ◽

Online Study

The aim of the current study was to investigate whether a specific social perception of the pandemic—believing or not in COVID-19—predicts borderline personality organizations and whether this relationship is mediated by more primitive maladaptive mechanisms—splitting, denial, and dissociation. The online study included 720 organization aged 25–45. Participants were diverse in terms of place of residence, being in a relationship, and education level. Approximately 30% of the general population reported not believing in the COVID-19 pandemic. Non-believers scored slightly higher on borderline symptoms and used more maladaptive defense mechanisms than believers. Individuals who deny COVID-19 are more likely to show characteristics of borderline personality organization. Splitting is an important mechanism in this relationship.

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Defense Mechanisms and Psychological Characteristics According to Suicide Attempts in Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder

Psychiatry Investigation ◽

10.30773/pi.2020.0102 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (8) ◽

pp. 840-849

Author(s):

Young-Ji Lee ◽

Mu-Sung Keum ◽

Hye-Geum Kim ◽

Eun-Jin Cheon ◽

Young-Chul Cho ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Borderline Personality Disorder ◽

Personality Disorder ◽

Defense Mechanisms ◽

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory ◽

Suicide Attempts ◽

Borderline Personality ◽

Psychological Characteristics ◽

Suicide Attempters ◽

Defense Style ◽

Biological Studies

Objective There have been many biological studies on suicide behaviors of borderline personality disorder (BPD), however few studies have sought to psychoanalytic characteristics including defense mechanisms. Therefore, we investigated psychological, symptomatic, and personality characteristics including defense mechanisms in suicide attempters and non-suicide attempters among patients with BPD.Methods We enrolled 125 patients with BPD. Forty-two patients with a history of one or more suicide attempts formed the suicide attempters group and 83 patients with no such history formed the non-suicide attempters group. We collated the differences in clinical and psychological characteristics between the two groups by using the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R), the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2), the Personality Disorder Questionnaire-4+ (PDQ-4+), and the Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ).Results The suicide attempters group scored higher on the hostility subscale of SCL-90-R. The suicide attempters group also scored higher on the Infrequency, Back Infrequency, Lie, Masculinity-femininity, Paranoia, Psychasthenia, and Schizophrenia scales of the MMPI-2. The incidence of paranoid and antisocial personality disorders, as assessed by the PDQ-4+, was significantly different in both groups. Maladaptive, self-sacrificing defense style, splitting and affiliation on the DSQ were also higher for the suicide attempters group. In the results of the logistic regression analysis, gender, the F(B) and L scales on the MMPI-2, and ‘splitting of other’s image’ defense mechanism on the DSQ were the factors that significantly influenced to suicide attempts.Conclusion These findings suggest that impulsive psychiatric features and maladaptive defense style may be related to suicidal risk in patients with BPD. Therefore, our findings may help clinicians in estimating the risk of suicide in patients with BPD.

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