RECENT APPROACHES FOR THE UNDERSTANDING O F BORDERLINE PERSONALITY-DISORDERS

The concept of Borderline Personality Disorders was developed from Nor th-American psychiatric and psychoanalytic thought. During recent year s different contributions on this disorder emerged from several psycho logical paradigms. Four current trains of research are reviewed: Appro aches based upon the five-factor-model of personality, Linehan's behav ioristic approach, interpersonal concepts as shown by Benjamin and a s elf-developed subject-centered approach focussing on the patients' sub jective theories of illness. These models converge into a concept whic h interprets Borderline Personality Disorders as disturbances of perso nal identity. The patients fail when attempting to overcome the tensio n between being a person and being a subject in their interpretation o f the world and themselves. At the end of the article consequences for therapy are highlighted.