ABSTRACT
Borderline personality disorder is one of the more controversial diagnoses. The literature on borderline personality disorder has been growing rapidly, and the diagnosis has been the subject of much criticism. There is now considerable consensus that the core features of borderline personality disorder are emotional dysregulation, high levels of impulsivity leading to self-harm and suicidality, and disturbed interpersonal functioning consisting of unstable close relationships that involve clinging attachment, fear of abandonment, and intense conflict with intimate partners. A substantial number of borderline personality disorder patients have experienced one or more traumas: about one third of them have comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder. The construct validity of the disorder is subject to much debate and quite diverse conceptualizations of the core nature of the disorder are proposed. This state of affairs may in part be due to the great heterogeneity allowed by the polythetic definition of borderline PD in the DSM. Current theoretical models of borderline personality (i.e. the biosocial theory of Linehan, the schema theory of Young, and the mentalization model of Bateman and Fonagy) are discussed. These theories generally follow a diathesis-stress format: temperamentally vulnerable individuals growing up in unfavourable environmental contexts.
