Depression in borderline personality disorder: lifetime prevalence at interview and longitudinal course of symptoms

Abstract

A group of patients with borderline personality disorder was compared with groups of subjects with antisocial personality and bipolar II illness. The lifetime prevalence at interview of DSM-III [Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-III] major depression was high in all groups. Chronic depression demonstrated a specific relationship to borderline psychopathology. Prospectively, borderline psychopathology predicted high levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms. This relationship was reversed for depressive symptoms in patients with antisocial personality disorder, suggesting that when borderline and antisocial personality disorders occur together, some features may arise that differentiate patients with both disorders from those with either disorder alone.