The hospital and the borderline patient: management guidelines for the community mental health center.

Controversy over the treatment of borderline patients in regression has frequently left underfined the practical approaches to hospital management of these patients. The nature and context of the regressive episode, and the implications of potential interventions for specific types of patients are basic considerations in formulating such an approach. Subgroups of borderline patients can be usefully distinguished on the basis of the major management problem to which each is particularly prone.