Borderline Personality Disorder
Conditions
Keywords
Borderline Personality Disorder
Brief summary
Borderline personality disorder is a severe psychiatric disorder marked by emotional instability, difficulty with interpersonal relationships, and self-harming behaviors. Despite receiving psychotherapy for borderline personality disorder, studies show that patient recovery is slow, and there is a high rate of self injury and suicide attempts early in treatment. There is thus a clear need to provide therapies to augment psychotherapy. We will conduct a pilot trial to determine whether a 6-week Central Meditation and Imagery Therapy (CMIT) is feasible for subjects with borderline personality disorder to undergo when added on to psychotherapy treatment. CMIT is a non-validated therapy that combines principles of mindfulness with meditation techniques and guided imagery. Sessions led by a trained clinician in a group setting once a week, and participants are asked to complete daily home practice. The trial will involve 16 participants, all currently undergoing psychotherapy for borderline personality disorder. Participants will be randomly assigned to either a CMIT group that lasts 6 weeks, or a wait list group. Those in the wait list group will be able to receive CMIT after 6 weeks. All participants will continue to receive psychotherapy throughout the trial. During the trial, we will also obtain preliminary data to help understand whether CMIT may result in psychological benefits for participants. This will include measuring the pulse in order to determine variation in beat to beat intervals of the heart during psychological tests, and filling out questionnaires before and after participation in CMIT.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALCentral Meditation and Imagery Therapy
mindfulness, guided imagery, meditation
Sponsors
University of California, San Francisco
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Investigator)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Meeting the diagnostic criteria for BPD according to DSM-IV criteria * Meeting the diagnostic criteria for BPD based on the Diagnostic Interview for Borderline - Revised * Currently receiving psychotherapy. * English language proficiency to understand written and oral communication
Exclusion criteria
* Active suicidality or suicidal intent as identified on the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale * Suicide attempt within the past month
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Borderline Symptoms | 6 weeks | Borderline Symptom List |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Depression | 6 weeks | Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptoms |
| Anxiety | 6 weeks | Trait Anxiety Inventory |
| Positive Affect | 6 weeks | Positive and Negative Affect Scale |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Heart rate variability | 6 weeks | Resting heart rate variability |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed