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A case study of an extremely violent serial rapist with borderline personality disorder in remission
Author(s) -
Martens W. H. J.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1034/j.1600-0447.2003.00083.x
Subject(s) - borderline personality disorder , psychosocial , psychology , personality , clinical psychology , psychiatry , personality disorders , injury prevention , mechanism (biology) , poison control , psychotherapist , medicine , medical emergency , social psychology , philosophy , epistemology
Objective: To provide evidence that some borderline patients with poor prognosis can obtain complete remission. Method: Case of a violent rapist with borderline personality disorder in remission is reported. An attempt was made to reveal the mechanism of recovery in this forensic patient who initially was assessed as psychotherapeutically untreatable. Results: Psychotherapeutic effects and favourable psychosocial factors such as successful college graduation, increased social–emotional capacities and valuable new relationships did also play a very important role in this remission process. Conclusion: Controlled studies are necessary to elucidate the mechanism of recovery among criminal patients with borderline personality disorder in order to provide adequate treatment programmes and to construct more reliable prediction methods for prognosis and reoffending.