OBJECTIVE Clinical reports suggest that many adults who engage in self-destructive behavior have childhood histories of trauma and disrupted parental care. This study explored the relations between childhood trauma, disrupted attachment, and self-destruction, using both historical and prospective data. METHOD Seventy-four subjects with personality disorders or bipolar II disorder were followe...

This article considers some of the psychophysiologic mechanisms that underlie the driven, apparently self-destructive behavior of addicted persons. The authors review the available literature on the association between suicidal behavior and substance abuse. These issues are discussed in the context of the epidemiology and phenomenology of self-destructive behavior.

This overview of suicidal behavior of children and adolescents covers aspects of epidemiology and risk factors. The risk factors can be classified as early developmental experiences, expression of affects, and current environmental situations. These risk factors include depression, aggression, parental suicidal behavior, family losses, and family violence and depression.

Objective: The association of narcissistic disturbances in patients with melancholia symptoms has been described in various studies. The mechanism by which narcissistic disturbances may contribute to difficulties in emotional regulation and self-destructive behavior in melancholic patients have not been explored well. This lack of attention represents a vital theoretical ambiguity about the int...

Current, ongoing interactions between adults exhibiting borderline personality disorder (BPD) traits and their families of origin may influence and maintain self-destructive behavior. Family interactions in such patients are often characterized by coexisting extremes of overinvolvement and underinvolvement by parental figures. Such parental behavior may trigger preexisting role relationship sch...