Table 83-2 Medication efficacy in areas of dyscontrol

Table 83-2 Medication efficacy in areas of dyscontrol
	Efficacy^a
Medication	Cognitions	Affect	Self- destructiveness/ impulsivity	Anxiety
Antipsychotics	+	+	++	+
Tricyclic antidepressants	+/-	+	+/-	+/-
Monoamine oxidase inhibitors	?	+	++	+ (somatic)
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors	++	++	++	+
Carbamazepine	+	+/-	++	?
Benzodiazepines	?	+/-	-	+ (psychic)
Valproate	?	+/-	++	?
Note. The information in this table should be considered tentative, because most of the medication trials in patients with borderline personality disorder have been small and open, and few of the medications listed have been directly compared with one another.
^a++= Clear improvement; += modest improvement; +/- = variable improvement or worsening; - = some worsening.
Source. Adapted from Phillips and Gunderson 1994.