Drug treatment of the personality disorders.
Many people with well defined borderline and schizotypal personality disorders may benefit considerably from small doses of neuroleptics. Depression that occurs with personality disorders, which is frequent, responds poorly to tricyclics but may respond better to neuroleptics, while the response to ECT is usually short lived. Selected borderline subjects may respond to MAOIs, particularly where there is a history of childhood hyperactivity. Carbamazepine and lithium may help some individuals with episodic behavioural dyscontrol and aggression, even in the absence of epileptic, affective or organic features. Drug treatments can be combined with psychotherapy, but further placebo-controlled trials are needed to clarify which drugs are most useful, and whether there are any useful clinical predictors of drug responsiveness.
King's College Hospital, Orpington, Kent.
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D000929:Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000145:classification / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004565:Electroconvulsive Therapy; D006801:Humans; D008094:Lithium / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008996:Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012569:Schizotypal Personality Disorder / Q000145:classification / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology
D000929:Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D008996:Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs; D008094:Lithium