Differential cognitive disturbances in three types of borderline states

Three types of borderline psychopathology are differentiated. Borderline schizophrenia, like schizophrenia, is characterized by impairment in the articulation of fundamental boundary differentiations. Cognitive disturbances in borderline schizophrenia are manifested as Rorschach contamination-tendency responses, wherein independent percepts tend inappropriately to fuse. Two relatively stable types of borderline personality disorder are also distinguished, both types characterized by impaired evocative constancy. Cognitive disturbances in borderline personality disorders manifested as Rorschach confabulation responses, wherein exaggerated reactions and associations disrupt realistic thinking and perception. Anaclitic borderline personality disorder involves central concerns with abandonment and rejection; introjective borderline personality disorder involves central concerns with criticism and censure. In anaclitic borderline personality disorder, confabulatory thinking expresses intense affect elaborations and preoccupations with dependence and relatedness. In introjective borderline personality disorder, confabulatory thinking is overspecific, grandiose, and/or oversymbolic, and expresses concerns about self-worth and self-definition. These various cognitive disturbances have significant implications for differential diagnosis and for understanding both interpersonal relationships and potential for psychosis among the three borderline conditions.