ABSTRACT
In a comparatively brief period of time, the borderline concept developed into one of the most captivating and controversial diagnostic phenomena in the history of psychopathology. Although it has been with us in one form or another since the beginning of the century, its “rise to fame” in the world of psychiatric diagnoses has occurred within the last few decades. Aptly captured by the title of a book about borderline personality disorder called “Imbroglio” (Cauwels, 1992), the borderline concept has eluded and confounded us as much as it has intrigued us. Yet despite the decades of confusion and controversy and the countless volumes written to sharpen and tidy up the concept, there still does not exist unanimous agreement of just what the borderline concept “borders” on or between.
