Pain and self-injury in borderline patients: sensory decision theory, coping strategies, and locus of control.
Fifteen women with borderline personality disorder who do not experience pain during self-injury were found to discriminate more poorly between imaginary painful and mildly painful situations, to reinterpret painful sensations (a pain-coping strategy related to dissociation), and to have higher scores on the Dissociative Experiences Scale than 24 similar female patients who experience pain during self-injury and 22 age-matched normal women. "Analgesia' during self-injury in borderline patients may be related to a cognitive impairment in the ability to distinguish between painful and mildly painful situations, as well as to dissociative mechanisms.
Russ
M J
MJ
New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center/Westchester Division, White Plains 10605, USA.
Clark
W C
WC
Cross
L W
LW
Kemperman
I
I
Kakuma
T
T
Harrison
K
K
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D003662:Decision Theory; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006987:Hypesthesia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D007092:Imagination; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000523:psychology*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D017288:Pain Threshold; D010555:Personality Inventory; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000523:psychology*