Impulse control and affect regulation in personality disorders

In borderline and antisocial personality disorder there is a close interact ion between affect dysregulation and impulse control disorder. Different ap proaches are presented that focus on affective responses to experimental st imuli in these personality disorders, Results suggest that in borderline pe rsonality disorder intense emotional responses occur in the context of spec ific stressors, in particular fear of being abandoned. Evidence for a gener al emotional hyperreactivity was not found; on the contrary, female borderl ine subjects rather showed reduced emotional arousal. Regarding the psychop athic subtype of antisocial personality disorder, results provided strong s upport for the theory of emotional detachment, which may predispose to viol ence through a lack of feeling of fear or also of compassion which could co unteract violent impulses. Consequences for psychotherapy in BPD are consid ered.