Psychopharmacologic treatment of personality disorders

There is only a paucity of studies concerning the pharmacological treatment of personality disorders per se. On the other hand the clinical use of medication in these conditions is quite high, although there is no effective psychopharmacological treatment of distinct personality disorders. The psychopharmacological treatment of patients suffering from a personality disorder focuses on distinct symptoms and its comorbidity. Some symptoms could also be associated with other disorders like depression or psychosis, which often makes an exact differentiation of these disorders and a personality disorder difficult. Since symptoms of personality disorders are ego-syntonic, chronic and very often dependent on psychosocial factors, it is unlikely that a solely psychopharmacological treatment will be successful in most patients with a personality disorder. However, severe syndromes like depressive, impulsive, aggressive, dissociative, anxious or psychotic features may render a pharmacotherapy necessary. For the treatment of depressive syndromes or impulsivity a medical therapy with serotonin reuptake inhibitors, for the treatment of psychotic syndromes a medication with atypical antipsychotics is recommended. impulsive or aggressive behaviour could be treated with mood stabilizers as well. Furthermore, there are indications for the use of alpha 2-agonists, mu-opiate-antagonists and omega-3 fatty acid. The general use of benzodiazepines should be avoided as well as polypragmasy. Advantages versus potential damage of a high dose pharmacotherapy should be carefully weighed against each other. This article gives an overview over the today's most common psychopharmacological treatment possibilities in patients with a personality disorder.