Borderline personality disorder: Treatment approaches and perspectives

Borderline personality disorder is a disorder associated with significant morbidity, mortality and imparts a significant societal toll. The field of research into the pathophysiology, conceptualization and treatment approaches for borderline personality disorder is rapidly expanding. Once considered by many to be a diagnosis consisting of fixed and untreatable patient characteristics, our current understanding had lead to a more hopeful prognosis and a set of therapeutic approaches to accelerate patient recovery. These approaches include evidence-based psychotherapy, domain-targeted medication treatment and combined strategies. Despite this growth in the literature and improvement in patient care, significant opportunities exist to further our understanding and implement best practices in the clinical realm, research and physician education.