RESUMO
Signal detection theory measures of thermal responsivity were examined to determine whether differences in reported pain experienced during self-injurious behavior in female patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) are explained by neurosensory factors and/or attitudinal factors (response bias). Female patients with BPD who do not experience pain during self-injury (BPD-NP group) were found to discriminate more poorly between noxious thermal stimuli of similar intensity, low P(A), than female patients with BPD who experience pain during self-injury (BPD-P group), female patients with BPD who do not have a history of self-injury (BPD-C group), and age-matched normal women. The BPD-NP group also had a higher response criterion, B (more stoical) than the BPD-C group. These findings suggest that 'analgesia' during self-injury in patients with BPD is related to both neurosensory and attitudinal/psychological abnormalities.
Assuntos
Transtorno da Personalidade Borderline/psicologia , Medição da Dor , Comportamento Autodestrutivo/psicologia , Detecção de Sinal Psicológico , Adolescente , Adulto , Transtorno da Personalidade Borderline/diagnóstico , Transtornos Dissociativos/diagnóstico , Transtornos Dissociativos/psicologia , Feminino , Humanos , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Inventário de Personalidade , Automutilação/psicologia , Tentativa de Suicídio/psicologia , Sensação TérmicaRESUMO
Fifteen women with borderline personality disorder who do not experience pain during self-injury were found to discriminate more poorly between imaginary painful and mildly painful situations, to reinterpret painful sensations (a pain-coping strategy related to dissociation), and to have higher scores on the Dissociative Experiences Scale than 24 similar female patients who experience pain during self-injury and 22 age-matched normal women. "Analgesia' during self-injury in borderline patients may be related to a cognitive impairment in the ability to distinguish between painful and mildly painful situations, as well as to dissociative mechanisms.