Shreya Duvvuri

Comorbidity between borderline personality disorder and alcohol use disorder

Started July 12, 2022

Abstract or project description

Did you know that Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) are highly comorbid? Among those who meet the criteria for BPD, approximately 50% also meet the diagnostic criteria for an AUD (Trull, 2018). In a clinical sample of individuals with a current diagnosis of AUD, approximately 12 to 17% also met the diagnostic criteria for BPD (Helle, 2019). This manuscript provides a review of the literature on BPD and AUD comorbidity. First, we examine shared risk factors including genetics, environmental factors, substance abuse, preexisting mental illness, brain regions, demographic variables, and poor life satisfaction. Second, we reviewed symptomatology, observing shared symptoms such as self-destructive, impulsive, and harm-seeking behaviors. Lastly, we scoped treatment options for individuals with BPD and AUD which primarily consisted of various psychotherapies (e.g., dialectical behavior therapies, mentality-based therapy, schema-focused therapy, STEPPS, transference-focused therapies, cognitive behavioral therapy, motivational enhancement therapy, marital/family therapy, brief interventions, and mutual help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous or SMART recovery) and pharmacotherapies (e.g., antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, disulfiram, naltrexone, and acamprosate).