The Effectiveness of Dialectical Behavior Therapy on Reducing Symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder: Case Study

Abstract

Abstract-This research aimed to examine individual dialectical behavior therapy with a female, she was 21 years old, suffered from borderline personality disorder symptoms. The assessment for the client depended on three tools, the first was clinical interviews, the second was indirect observation, and the third was scale of borderline personality disorder. The more reasons of borderline personality disorders to the client were frequent family problems, case of broken homes, and traumas which happen to the client like sexual harassment. The therapeutic program consisted of 18 sessions, it has been constructed on the principles, strategies, and techniques to Marsha Linehan's practice guide for dialectical behavior therapy, therapeutic program was effectiveness in reducing symptoms of borderline personality disorder.Index Terms-Dialectical behavior therapy, borderline personality disorder, case study. I. THEORITICAL AND RESEARCH BASISBorderline personality disorder is the most frequent and the most severe of all personality disorders in clinical practice [1], it's a serious mental disorder with a characteristic pervasive pattern of instability in affect regulation, impulse control, interpersonal relationships, and self-image [2]. It's characterized by severe psychological impairment and high mortality rate due to suicide -up to 10 % of patients commit suicide, a rate almost 50 times higher than in the general population [3], [4], Links have been suggested between borderline personality disorder and criminal risk [5]. It affects about 1-2 % of the general population, up to 10 % of psychiatric outpatients, and 20 % of inpatients [6]. Finding of studies showed that the disorder was more common in women than in men, and in girls than boys, about 70 % for men and 30 % for women [7], the prevalence of borderline personality disorder was 11 % at age 9 -19 years, and 7.8 % at 11 -21 years [8].The cause of borderline personality disorder is complex with several factors, which interact in various ways with each other, genetic factors and adverse childhood experiences might cause emotional dysregulation and impulsivity leading to dysfunctional behaviors and psychological conflicts and deficits [9], current theories indicate that the etiology of borderline personality disorder may be related to genetic or neurobiological factors, family environment (including attachment , parental pathology and childhood abuse), and social factors [10], childhood sexual abuse has been particularly associated with diagnosis of borderline personality disorder [11], research in this field has focused mainly on the role of intrafamilial trauma, such as physical and sexual abuse, studies also have investigated the role of other traumatic conditions, such as intrafamilial violence, neglect, early separation and losses as possible risk factors in the development of borderline personality disorder [12], [13]. The American psychiatric Association [14] showed 9 criteria for borderline personality disorder and the individuals with it have 5 or more of t...