Borderline personality disorder was significantly associated with relapse after 6 months in adults with major depressive disorder who underwent electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), based on data from 109 individuals. Dr Matthieu Hein ECT has demonstrated effectiveness for treatment of unipolar and bipolar major depression, but relapses within 6 months are frequent, and potential factors affecting relapse … Read more
The absence of self-harm does not preclude a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD), in new findings that may have potential implications for changes to diagnostic criteria for the disorder. Investigators compared to characteristics of almost 400 psychiatric outpatients diagnosed with BPD. About half of the participants met the suicidality/self-injury diagnostic criterion for the disorder … Read more
Transgender people who medically detransition — those who stop or switch gender-affirming hormone therapy or who undergo a reversal of a surgical reconstruction — report feeling stigmatized by clinicians and receiving inadequate professional support, researchers have found. As a result, such patients often avoid healthcare at the time they stop undergoing medical interventions, and many … Read more
Although most psychiatrists have encountered patients who don’t improve with treatment, novel research sheds some light on one possible explanation for this phenomenon. Investigators found that among patients who were “stuck” many believed that they didn’t deserve to get better and were significantly less likely to adhere to, or complete, a treatment program. “To the … Read more
Youth with bipolar disorder (BD) have a high risk of eating disorders (EDs), new research shows. Investigators studied close to 200 youth with BD and found that more than 25% had a lifetime ED, which included anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and an ED not otherwise specified (NOS). Those with comorbid EDs were more … Read more
Jon E. Grant, JD, MD, MPH Trichotillomania is a chronic psychiatric disorder that causes people to repeatedly pull out their own hair. Not only does it result in alopecia with no other underlying causes but it can have significant psychosocial ramifications and rare, but serious, complications. Though reported prevalence rates of up to approximately 2%, … Read more