Acute, Chronic, and Everyday Physical Pain in Borderline Personality Disorder

Purpose of Review

Physical pain is an underrecognized area of dysregulation among those with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Disturbances are observed within the experience of acute, chronic, and everyday physical pain experiences for people with BPD. We aimed to synthesize research findings on multiple areas of dysregulation in BPD in order to highlight potential mechanisms underlying the association between BPD and physical pain dysregulation.

Recent Findings

Potential biological mechanisms include altered neural responses to painful stimuli within cognitive-affective regions of the brain, as well as potentially low basal levels of endogenous opioids. Emotion dysregulation broadly mediates dysregulation of physical pain. Certain psychological experiences may attenuate acute physical pain, such as dissociation, whereas others, such as negative affect, may exacerbate it. Social challenges between patients with BPD and healthcare providers may hinder appropriate treatment of chronic pain.

Summary

Dysregulated physical pain is common in BPD and important in shaping health outcomes including elevated BPD symptoms, chronic pain conditions, and risk for problematic substance use.