Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder and Somatoform Disorders

Disorders of Extreme Stress Not Otherwise Specified (DESNOS), also known as Complex posttraumatic stress disorder, was assessed in a sample (N = 472) of adult psychiatric patients with confirmed diagnoses of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), Somatoform Disorders (SoD), comorbid BPD + SoD, or Affective or Anxiety Disorders (Psychiatric Controls, PC). BPD + SoD patients had the most extensive childhood trauma histories and were most likely (38%) to meet DESNOS criteria, followed by BPD (26%), PC (17%), and SoD (10%), The BPD + SoD and BPD-only groups reported significantly higher levels of DESNOS symptoms than the SoD or PC groups, and did not differ from each other except for greater severity of DESNOS somatic symptoms by the BPD + SoD group. DESNOS warrants further investigation with psychiatrically impaired adults as a potential independent syndrome or as a marker identifying a subgroups of affectively or both affectively and somatically dysregulated patients diagnosed with BPD who have childhood trauma histories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Patients With Borderline Personality Disorder and Somatoform Disorders (PDF Download Available). Available from: http://www.researchgate.net/publication/232491929_Complex_Posttraumatic_Stress_Disorder_in_Patients_With_Borderline_Personality_Disorder_and_Somatoform_Disorders [accessed Oct 29, 2015].