Pain and self-injury in borderline patients: Sensory decision theory, coping strategies, and locus of control

Author(s): Clark, W. C., Cross, L. W., Kemperman, I., Kakuma, T., Harrison, K.

Journal/Book: Psychiatry Res. 1996; 63: Customer Relations Manager, Bay 15, Shannon Industrial, Estate Co, Clare, Ireland. Elsevier Sci Ireland Ltd. 57-65.

Abstract: Fifteen women with borderline personality disorder who do not experience pain during self-injury were found to discriminate more poorly between imaginary painful and mildly painful situations, to reinterpret painful sensations (a pain-coping strategy related to dissociation), and to have higher scores on the Dissociative Experiences Scale than 24 similar female patients who experience pain during self-injury and 22 age-matched normal women. 'Analgesia' during self-injury in borderline patients may be related to a cognitive impairment in the ability to distinguish between painful and mildly painful situations, as well as to dissociative mechanisms.

Note: Article MJ Russ, New York Hosp, Cornell Med Ctr, Westchester Div, 21 Bloomingdale Rd, White Plains, NY 10605 USA

Keyword(s): personality disorder; analgesia; self-mutilation; dissociation; LOW-BACK-PAIN; PERSONALITY-DISORDER; BEHAVIOR; PERCEPTION; NALOXONE

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