ABSTRACT
A number of authors have noted that important qualitative differences mark the dreams of borderline patients. The alien part of the self—the introject of the inaccurately mirroring other which is experienced as part of the self—often achieves representation in the dreams of borderline patients. With borderline patients the elements of the dream are frequently far closer to the surface and far simpler in structure, depicting aspects of the patient's mind in ways which, for neurotic individuals, would not require dream interpretation to gain access to. Borderline patients are far more likely to experience both intense pleasure and intense anxiety associated with the experience of dreaming. Thus, for the borderline patient, dreams often are reality simply by virtue of the fact that it was thought about. More importantly, dreams give us a window on the patient's current capacity to understand their own psychological state of being—where they are, and how far they have got on the road to recovering reflective function.
