Perception ofown body by women with borderline personality disorder – preliminary studies

• Main Author: Aleksandra Szepietowska
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Medical Communications Sp. z o.o. 2014-03-01
• Series: Psychiatria i Psychologia Kliniczna
• Subjects: personality disorder; borderline; body perception; body image; psychopathological symptoms
• Online Access: http://www.psychiatria.com.pl/index.php/wydawnictwa/2014-vol-14-no-1/perception-of-own-body-by-women-with-borderline-personality-disorder-preliminary-studies?aid=348
• ISSN: 1644-6313; 2451-0645

Aim: Analysis of the way women with borderline personality disorder (BPD) perceive their bodies. Methods: The body perception was presented as a psychological model manifested in the attitude to one’s own body, the way of sensing and interpreting the bodily sensations, mental identification with the body, and the feeling of comfort in interpersonal closeness and social exposure situations. Material and methods: Twenty eight women took part in the study: 14 of them met the BPD criteria, 14 constituted a comparative group (selection by pairs). Three instruments were used: The Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90), self-constructed questionnaire examining one’s own body perception (Body Perception Scale – Skala Percepcji Ciała, SPC), and Borderline Scale from Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Disorders (SCID-II) to confirm BPD symptoms. Results: Women with BPD perceive their bodies more negatively in all examined aspects, as compared to those without personality disorders. Predominant are negative emotions towards one’s body and lack of confidence in one’s attraction for other people. Less intense become such traits as: the impression of perceptive changes, difficulty in identification with the body appearance, and avoidance of close physical contacts. Comparisons of SCL-90 results show that in women with BPD all psychopathological symptoms are more severe. These patients are characterized by an increased level of depressiveness, obsessive-compulsive traits, paranoid ideation, and psychoticism. The results profile shows a similar pattern of symptoms in both groups and it is not the type but severity of psychopathological symptoms that differentiates them.