Borderline Personality Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Vietnam Veterans

Abstract

Many veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder have prominent symptoms of bor derline personality disorder. Such patients may unconsciously seek, through risk taking and confrontation, to recreate the excitement and sense of meaning they found in war. Understanding the theoretical concepts linking the two disorders can help psychiatric nurses recognize patients' needs to express these feelings and guide pa tients toward productive rather than potentially violent behavior. (J AM PSYCHIATR NURSES Assoc [1995]. 1, 6-11)