Reevaluating the distinction between Axis I and Axis II disorders: The case of borderline personality disorder

✍ Scribed by Anthony C. Ruocco

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2005
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 98 KB
• Volume: 61
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-9762
• DOI: 10.1002/jclp.20205

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

The division between Axis I clinical syndromes and Axis II personality disorders is a long‐standing distinction based primarily on three guiding principles: phenomenology, cause, and course. Clinical syndromes were generally thought to be characterized by transient symptoms with biological causes and an unstable course; personality disorders were supposed by many to be characterized by long‐standing personality traits, whose roots were primarily psychological, and a stable and unremitting course. Borderline personality disorder (BPD), however, is a condition characterized by distinct clinical symptoms, varied causes, and a relatively unstable course. Past theorizing about the distinction between Axis I and Axis II disorders is presented in light of recent empirical evidence refuting the rationalization for the separation of personality disorders and clinical syndromes using BPD as a means for comparison. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 61: 1509–1523, 2005.