Psychopathology and Alexithymia in Personality Disorders

Abstract

Personality disorders has been a neglected subset of all psychiatric disorders. Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) are the two most complex disorders of personality noted. There is a dearth of Indian literature on the same. This study aims at comparing the psychopathology in BPD and ASPD while studying alexithymia in these populations. A wide variety of psychopathology was noted in both these disorders. Anger hostility was more common in ASPD, while somatization and obsessive compulsiveness with anxiety was commoner in the BPD group. Both groups showed an equal amount of interpersonal stressors. Substance abuse was seen in all patients with ASPD while depression was more common in the BPD group. This study though limited in its subjects highlights the need to explore and research this neglected psychiatric population in diverse settings and longitudinally across time. KEY WORD-Borderline, Antisocial. Personality disorder.