Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany.
World J Biol Psychiatry. 2010 Mar;11(2 Pt 2):364-71. doi: 10.3109/15622970701849952.
Several studies revealed reduced pain sensitivity in patients suffering from borderline personality disorder (BPD) under baseline and stress conditions. To establish whether these findings are specific for BPD, we compared pain thresholds in patients with BPD, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bulimia nervosa, and healthy controls.
The study included 76 female subjects: 16 patients with BPD, 16 patients with PTSD, 20 patients with bulimia nervosa and 24 healthy controls. Heat and cold pain thresholds were assessed under baseline and stress conditions, using a contact thermode. Mental stress was induced by the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task.
Under baseline conditions, pain thresholds in patients with BPD were significantly higher compared to healthy controls. Patients with PTSD and bulimia nervosa did not show significant differences in pain thresholds compared to healthy controls. Under stress conditions, the difference between BPD patients and healthy controls became even more prominent, whereas the results in the other patient groups remained insignificant.
Our results support the hypothesis that reduced pain sensitivity is a prominent feature of BPD, which may differentiate this disorder from other stress-related psychiatric conditions.
多项研究表明，患有边缘型人格障碍（BPD）的患者在基线和应激状态下的疼痛敏感性降低。为了确定这些发现是否是 BPD 特有的，我们比较了 BPD、创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）、神经性贪食症患者和健康对照组的疼痛阈值。
该研究纳入了 76 名女性受试者：16 名 BPD 患者、16 名 PTSD 患者、20 名神经性贪食症患者和 24 名健康对照组。使用接触式热测痛仪在基线和应激状态下评估热痛和冷痛阈值。精神应激通过听觉连续加法任务诱发。
在基线状态下，BPD 患者的疼痛阈值明显高于健康对照组。PTSD 和神经性贪食症患者与健康对照组相比，疼痛阈值无显著差异。在应激状态下，BPD 患者与健康对照组之间的差异更加明显，而其他患者组的结果仍无显著性差异。
我们的结果支持疼痛敏感性降低是 BPD 的一个突出特征的假设，这可能使该障碍与其他应激相关的精神疾病区分开来。
