Review backs psychotherapies for borderline personality disorder

Significant benefit has been found across numerous trials but the certainty of evidence is moderate at best, researchers say

Psychotherapy for patients with borderline personality disorder may substantially reduce symptom severity and suicidality, a review confirms.

Specifically, add-on interventions such as emotion regulation group therapy and manual-assisted cognitive therapy should be considered in patients already receiving standalone treatment, according to European researchers.

Although the overall quality of evidence for psychotherapy was low, the Danish-led team say such interventions are crucial given the lack of “convincing” evidence to support drug treatments in this clinical setting.

Building upon a 2020 Cochrane review, the authors analysed data from 31 randomised controlled trials with 1870 participants to gauge the efficacy of standalone and adjunctive psychotherapeutic interventions for borderline personality disorder (BPD).