Alexithymia and self-harm in people with borderline personality disorder

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OBJECTIVE

To estimate the prevalence of alexithymia and self-harm in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD). To assess the role of alexithymia in the emergence of self-harm in patients with BPD.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We studied 104 patients (85 women, 19 men aged 21 to 25 years (64.4%)), including 54 patients with and 50 patients without BPD. Most of them had incomplete higher education (55%). We used the Russian version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) to reveal alexithymia and SCID-II to diagnose BPD. The presence of self-harm behavior was confirmed by the subjects’ anamnesis data.

RESULTS

The prevalence of alexithymia in patients with BPD was 83.3%, in the control group it was 52% (p=0.001). The prevalence of self-aggression was 70.3% (n=38) in patients with BPD, and 12% (n=6) in people without BPD. Self-harm among persons with alexithymia was noted in 62.5% (n=45). During the analysis, a connection between auto-aggression and alexithymia was found at the level of a statistical trend (p=0.051).

CONCLUSION

Alexithymia and self-harm are more common in patients with BPD than in healthy people. This type of emotional dysregulation mediates self-harm in patients with BPD.

Keywords:

alexithymia

self-injurious behavior

self-harm

borderline personality disorder

comorbidity

Authors:

Chizhova O.A.

Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University)

ORCID: 0009-0003-5937-1076

Iuzbashian P.G.

Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University)

ORCID: 0000-0002-7441-5546

Received:

03.08.2023

Accepted:

05.10.2023

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