Adolescent Suicide Attempts and Borderline Personality Disorder: Clinical Features

This paper focuses on the clinical characteristics of 22 teen-agers with a borderline personality disorder who had attempted suicide. The essential pattern of a borderline personality was a persistent instability in a variety of areas, including interpersonal relations, mood, behavior & self-image. The most prominent characterisitics were a tendency to react severly to loss, poorly controlled anger & self-defeating impulsivity. Specific treatment approaches are needed for these patients.(DD)