Dysfunctional understanding of mental states in personality disorders: What is the evidence?

Twenty-five years ago, Fonagy [1] first developed the idea that people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) have difficulties in understanding other minds and in reflecting about their own mental lives. His considerations were extended to other personality disorders (PD) [2] and are now subject to a growing amount of empirical research. It now seems justified to argue that individuals with any PD have difficulties in diverse aspects of knowledge about mental states. Such difficulties may include the recognition of one’s own and others’ feelings, inferring their thoughts and intentions, problems in connecting different states in an integrated narrative, and realizing that one’s subjective perspective about interpersonal relationships is no more than a hypothesis that does not necessarily mirror reality.

Source: Comprehensive Psychiatry - October 8, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Giancarlo Dimaggio, Martin Brüne Source Type: research