Differential diagnosis between borderline personality disorder and organic personality disorder following traumatic brain injury.
Organic personality disorder (OPD) is the traditional diagnostic category used to account for personality disturbances after traumatic brain injury (TBI). The recent use of Axis-II personality disorders, notably borderline personality disorder (BPD), has appeared in the TBI literature as an alternative to OPD. This would presumably offer a better description and understanding of the multiple clinical manifestations of these personality changes and disorders. This article offers a view that it is possible and fruitful to use both diagnoses in a complementary manner. An accurate recognition of the respective phenomenologies of both BPD and OPD is a key factor in achieving a differential diagnosis, including, if required, a dual diagnosis. The phenomenology of both conditions in reference to DSM-IV criteria is compared and illustrated through two clinical vignettes.
Départment de psychologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada. jean.gagnon@usherbrooke.ca.
Jean
J
Gagnon
Marc-André
MA
Bouchard
Constant
C
Rainville
D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000150:complications*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D006801:Humans; D019965:Neurocognitive Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology