Recovery from Borderline Personality Disorder

As important as our findings concerning the high rates of symptomatic remission and low rates of symptomatic recurrence are, the rates of recovery are even more important. This is so because we defined “recovery” as concurrent symptomatic remission and good social and good full-time vocational functioning. After 10 years of prospective follow-up, 50% of borderline patients achieved this important goal. After 16 years of prospective follow-up, 60% of borderline patients achieved this key outcome. In general, recovery is more difficult to achieve and maintain than remission. Two vignettes are presented in this chapter. The first deals with a patient who remitted but never recovered, and the second deals with a patient who both remitted and recovered.