Borderline Personality Disorder: Comparison of Two Treatment Modalities.

ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of two treatment modalities for patients diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD). A total of 100 psychiatric patients diagnosed with BPD participated in this study. Among them, 50 patients were outpatients who attended the Reason and Emotion (RIO) program, and the remaining 50 were inpatients who were treated on psychotherapeutic ward at the same hospital. All the participants filled out the following battery of tests when entering the program/psychotherapy ward and 3 months later: Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale, Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (2nd ed), Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, The COPE Inventory, and the WHOQOL-BREF scale. The results showed significant positive effects of both treatment modalities on patients' self-esteem, different domains of self-concept, impulsivity, and different domains of subjective quality of life. No significant changes were observed in terms of coping strategies. Thus, the results speak in favor of the outpatient RIO program, which is more cost-effective than the inpatient ward treatment.

A pilot study of accelerated deep transcranial magnetic stimulation effects on cognitive functioning in patients diagnosed with treatment resistant major depressive disorder.

The purpose of this study was to assess cognitive functioning in patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) treated with two different accelerated deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (dTMS) modalities as an add-on to stable pharmacotherapy.A total of 32 adult psychiatric inpatients diagnosed with treatment resistant MDD were allocated by stratified randomization into two groups: a group treated with dTMS twice a day during 2 weeks, and a group treated with dTMS twice a day during 3 weeks. Clinical psychologists assessed participants´ cognitive functions (memory, visuospatial functioning, executive functions, psychomotor speed, verbal fluency) via a battery of instruments, after the inclusion, and by the end of treatment.Our findings showed mild to moderate improvements in the majority of administered tests measuring different cognitive functions, meaning that patients achieved significantly better results by the end of the treatment compared to baseline, regardless of the duration of the treatment (2 or 3 weeks). No adverse effects on cognition were observed. The results seem promising in the context of treating the cognitive symptoms associated with functional recovery of patients suffering from depression.