Meaning in Life in People with Borderline Personality Disorder.

Low feelings of meaning in life are associated with depression, hopelessness and suicide, substance abuse and emotional dysregulation. The aim of this study is to offer results about the importance of the construct meaning in life in the psychopathology of BPD. In study 1, the sample was made up of 223 participants, 141 participants with BPD and 82 participants with another mental disorder but without BPD. In study 2, the sample was made up of 80 participants with BPD. Study 1 indicated that the participants with BPD had a lower feeling of meaning in life than the participants with mental disorders but without a BPD. Study 2 indicated that meaning in life was highly negatively correlated with the symptoms of BPD. The model composed of emotional dysregulation, and meaning in life was significantly associated with BPD psychopathology. The present study supports the association between meaning in life with the psychopathology of BPD. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. KEY PRACTITIONER MESSAGE: The results of this study suggest that meaning in life is a relevant variable in the psychopathology of BPD The results of this study suggest that meaning in life is associated with non-suicide self injuries This study suggests that current therapies for BPD should focus on increasing the meaning in life in these patients.

Protecting cognition from aging and Alzheimer's disease: a computerized cognitive training combined with reminiscence therapy.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this paper was to assess the efficacy of process-based cognitive training (pb-CT) combined with reminiscence therapy (RT) in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease (mAD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and in healthy elderly (HE) subjects. METHODS: This multicenter, randomized, controlled trial involved 348 participants with mAD, MCI, and HE from four European countries. Participants were randomly assigned to two arms of a crossover design: those in arm A underwent 3 months of computerized pb-CT for memory and executive functions combined with RT and 3 months of rest; those in arm B underwent the reverse. The primary outcome was the effect of the training on memory and executive functions performance. The secondary outcome was the effect of the training on functional abilities in mAD assessed with the instrumental activities of daily living. RESULTS: We found a significant effect of the training for memory in all three groups on delayed recall of the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test and for executive functions in HE on the phonological fluency test. MCI and HE participants maintained these effects at follow-up. MCI and mAD participants also showed a significant effect of the training on the Mini-mental state examination scale. Participants with mAD showed more stable instrumental activities of daily living during the training versus the rest period. CONCLUSIONS: Our results corroborate the positive effect of pb-CT and its maintenance primarily on memory in HE and MCI participants that did not seem to be potentiated by RT. Moreover, our results are very promising for the mAD participants.

Terapia dialéctica comportamental en el tratamiento de los trastornos de la personalidad del grupo C / Dialectical behavior therapy for the treatment of cluster C personality disorders

La terapia dialéctica comportamental (TDC) ha sido propuesta como un tratamiento eficaz para un amplio rango de clientes con síntomas funcionalmente similares a los del trastorno límite de la personalidad (TLP) que tienen en común la desregulación emocional. El grupo C de los trastornos de la personalidad (DSM-IV-TR, APA, 2000) representa el opuesto dialéctico del TLP. Estos trastornos, entre los que se incluyen el trastorno de la personalidad por evitación y el trastorno obsesivo compulsivo de la personalidad, están caracterizados también por problemas de regulación emocional que les llevan a ser emocionalmente inhibidos, excesivamente controladores, cognitivamente rígidos y evitativos. La TDC podría resultar una alternativa útil para tratar estos trastornos, pues su objetivo es trabajar las dificultades en regulación emocional. En este trabajo presentamos datos preliminares sobre la eficacia de un programa basado en la TDC para el tratamiento de cuatro casos con diagnósticos de trastornos de la personalidad del grupo C. Los resultados indicaron mejorías significativas en la sintomatología depresiva, la expresión patológica de la ira, el control de ansiedad percibido y el funcionamiento global

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) has been proposed as a useful treatment for a wide range of clients with symptoms functionally similar to those of borderline personality disorder (BPD), having in common pervasive emotion dysregulation. There is a set of personality disorders belonging to cluster C (DSM-IV-TR, APA, 2000) that represent the dialectical opposite of BPD and related disorders. These disorders are characterized also by difficulties in emotion regulation: being emotionally constricted, overcontrolled, cognitively rigid, and behaviorally avoidant; and include obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) and avoidant personality disorder (APD). These features are opposite to the features of BPD (i.e., emotional constriction vs emotional dysregulation, overcontrolled behavior vs impulsive behavior, etc.). DBT could be a useful approach for the treatment of these disorders, given that its main targets are emotion regulation difficulties. In this work we present preliminary findings of the efficacy of a six-month DBT-based program for the treatment of four patients with a diagnosis of cluster C personality disorder. Our findings showed a significant improvement in depression, anger, perceived anxiety control, and global functioning