Hearing voices frequently is something not exclusive to people with schizophrenia. People with borderline personality disorder are also often troubled by this. This has been documented by psychiatrist Karin Slotema in her doctoral dissertation. She was awarded her doctorate on November 29, 2011 from the University Medical Center (UMC) Utrecht.
It has been claimed that the way in which people with borderline personality disorder hear voices is different and not as severe as it is in schizophrenia. This is why healthcare professionals usually pay little attention to this symptom and why little research into the treatment of hearing voices in borderline patients has been done up to now.
In her study, Slotema found that 38 patients with a borderline personality disorder had been hearing voices for as long as eighteen years. They often heard these voices on a daily basis for a few minutes or longer. The patients experience this as a rude interruption in their daily lives. Moreover, most people did not feel they had any control over the voices.
Antipsychotic drugs
Slotema says: “I think that the severity of verbal hallucinations in people with borderline personality disorder is such that it warrants further research into the causes and possible treatment methods. At present it is not clear whether these patients, like those with schizophrenia, will benefit from antipsychotic drugs.”
Slotema is a psychiatrist at PsyQ Haaglanden, Parnassia Bavo group, the Hague. She conducted her research in collaboration with UMC Utrecht. Professor Iris Sommer of UMC Utrecht and Professor H.W. Hoek supervised her research.
PsyQ Haaglanden has now started a follow-up study with UMC Utrecht into the treatment of voice-hearing in patients with borderline personality disorder. The results of this study are expected in 2014.