Borderline personality disorder: are proliferative symptoms characteristic?

Borderline personality is an Axis II disorder that has historically encompassed a number of different psychiatric symptoms. In empirical studies, these multiple psychiatric symptoms appear to manifest as numerous comorbid Axis I and II diagnoses. In echoing these findings in primary care settings, individuals with borderline personality exhibit prolific somatic symptoms. Rather than the type of symptom, are the number of symptoms suggestive of this disorder, such that proliferative psychiatric or medical symptoms are diagnostically relevant? We discuss these issues and conclude that the number of symptoms is an unacknowledged but important diagnostic feature in borderline personality disorder.This ongoing column is dedicated to the challenging clinical interface between psychiatry and primary care-two fields that are inexorably linked.