NCT03932656

Latent Toxoplasmosis in Females With Borderline Personality Disorder

Latent Toxoplasmosis in Females With Borderline Personality Disorder - Occurrence, Clinical Features, and Impact on Effectiveness of Combined Pharmacotherapeutic and Psychotherapeutic Treatment

• Status: Withdrawn
• Phase: —
• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 0 (actual)
• Sponsor: Marie Ociskova · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Borderline personality disorder is a common mental disorder with core features of affective dysregulation, impulsivity, and identity disturbance. Although this disorder is mostly understood as a result of a combination of biological factors (genes, temperament) and early aversive experiences (often of traumatic nature), recent data suggest that other factors may be important in its development and course. Preliminary findings show that patients with borderline personality disorder have higher prevalence of Toxoplasma seropositivity. This infection may manifest in symptoms such as affective dysregulation, aggression, suicidality, or anxiousness. As such, it may play a role in the psychopathology of the borderline personality disorder. The aim of this study is to explore the prevalence of Toxoplasma seropositivity in a sample of females with borderline personality disorder, its clinical correlates, and a potential impact on outcomes of an intensive six-week inpatient schema-therapeutic treatment. Results may enrich our understanding of this disorder and lead to improvements of the therapeutic approaches.

Conditions

• Borderline Personality Disorder
• Toxoplasmosis

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Combined schema-therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy	A six-week inpatient psychotherapeutic program consisting of one small group and one big group therapy per day, one individual session per week, daily sport activities, imagery and relaxation techniques. The therapeutic approach presents a combination of schema-therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. Schema-therapy will follow guidelines for the treatment of individuals with borderline personality disorder (Farrell and Shaw 2012). A later step in the therapy - strengthening of the called Healthy Adult (that is the ability to perceive situations realistically, think rationally, plan time, set appropriate goals, or behave assertively) will be done by standard cognitive behavioral strategies (cognitive restructuring, core beliefs work, time planning, problem solving, assertiveness training). A detailed description of the program is going to be published in a paper.
DRUG	Psychopharmaceuticals	Pharmacotherapy will be implemented according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines and will target comorbidities if present to such extent that warrants a pharmacological intervention. If not needed, patients will not use medication. Most patients will be recommended to hospitalization by their outpatient psychiatrists who prescribe the medication. If needed, medication will be changed to meet the guideline standards (i.e., tapering off benzodiazepines or augmentation with a mood stabilizer). The medication will be controlled but not directed by the study.

Timeline

• Start date: 2021-01-01
• Primary completion: 2023-11-01
• Completion: 2024-04-01
• First posted: 2019-05-01
• Last updated: 2024-04-02

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Czechia