Axis I phenomenology of borderline personality disorder.

The Axis I phenomenology of 50 outpatients meeting both Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines (DIB) and DSM-III criteria for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), 29 outpatients meeting DSM-III criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD), and 26 outpatients meeting DSM-III criteria for Dsythymic Disorder as well as DSM-III criteria for some other type of Axis II disorder (dysthymic OPD) was assessed blind to clinical diagnosis using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III (SCID). Borderlines were significantly more likely than antisocial controls to have met DSM-III criteria for an affective disorder, particularly Dysthymic Disorder, and an anxiety disorder. They were also significantly more likely than dysthymic OPD controls but significantly less likely than antisocial controls to have met DSM-III criteria for alcohol abuse/dependence and drug abuse/dependence. The authors conclude that: (1) the link between BPD and unipolar affective disorders is less specific than previously suggested, and (2) there is a link between BPD and impulse disorders that may be of equal, if not greater, importance.