Comparison of Pharmacological Treatment with Psychotherapeutic Interventions on Borderline Personality Disorder

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a mental health condition. People with BPD have extreme mood swings, unstable relationships and trouble controlling their emotions. They also have a higher risk of suicide and self-destructive behavior. Talk therapy is the main treatment for BPD. However due to the diverse clinical presentations of borderline personality disorder, various therapeutic approaches, including cognitive-behavioral interventions and pharmacological treatments, have been offered. Therefore, this study aimed to compare pharmacological treatment with psychotherapeutic interventions for borderline personality disorder. In this clinical trial approved by the university's ethics committee, ۳۰ randomly selected male patients were assigned to three groups. After obtaining consent, the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were administered as pre-test measures. The first group received drug therapy (olanzapine), while the second group underwent eight ۹۰-minute sessions of cognitive-behavioral therapy. The control group received no interventions. The data were analyzed using SPSS version ۲۲ software. Significant differences were found between the intervention groups and the control group; both interventions had a significant positive effect on the anxiety and depression of patients with borderline personality disorder, and the therapeutic effects were sustained in the follow-up stage (p < ۰.۰۵). Additionally, the follow-up results indicated that the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy on anxiety and depression was greater than that of drug therapy. Cognitive-behavioral therapy can effectively control anxiety and depression in patients with borderline personality disorder.

Keywords:

Depression , Borderline Personality Disorder , Anxiety , Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy