Mentalization-Focused Suicide: A Case Study

Bateman and Fonagy (2010) state, due to “the high prevalence suicide rate in patients with BPD make an unassailable argument that effective treatment needs to be developed and that treatment has to be widely available” (pp.12). However, due to the complexity of the negative symptoms (i.e. chronic feelings of emptiness, recurrent suicidal behaviors or threats, self-mutilation, dissociative symptoms, fear of abandonment and identity disturbance) for those suffering from BPD, there is no proven therapy to address all of these symptoms effectively. Therefore, by blending Schema Therapy (ST), Mentalization-Focused Therapy (MFT), and psychotropic medication Oxytocin, the clinician can replace maladaptive schemas, allowing for mentalizing to be achieved

The key element of MFT is the integration of attachment theory (Fonagy, Bateman, & Luyten, 2012). Secure attachment facilitates the expansion of the infants coping capacities, which affects their stress response system and how the child creates and maintains trusting relationships throughout the life cycle. According to Bateman and Fonagy (2010), the initial task in MFT is to stabilize emotional expression, as well as, the identification and expression of affect, because the inability to positively express one’s emotions represents an immediate threat to the continuity of therapy and potentially to the patient’s life. The primary objective of MFT for the individual to focus on her or his ability to tune into their experience of another and themselves. The goals of MFT is for the individual to have behavioral control, affect regulation and stable relationships. Bateman and Fonagy (2010), found MFT has shown to increase the individual’s ability to establish intense (attachment) relationships and the ability to express a coherent re-presentation of their feelings and thoughts. Thus, the ability to mentalize returns, which continues to help the individual regulate their thoughts and feelings, which makes relationships and self-regulation

Young for use in the treatment of personality disorders, such as borderline personality disorder. Schema therapy is similar to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy but focuses more on emotions, the therapeutic relationship, and early childhood origins of problems. SFT helps individuals identify schemas or negative thought patterns, by teaching the individual to recognize them and replace the negative, habitual thoughts and behaviors with new, healthy options. There are four main concepts in SFT; schemas, coping styles, modes and basic emotional needs. A schema is a mental concept that informs the individual what to expect from a variety of experiences, which are based on the information we have acquired by previous life experiences, for example, if you saw a fire you would already know it was hot without actually touching it. In SFT, schemas refer to early maladaptive schemas. These are self-defeating emotional and cognitive patterns established from childhood and repeated throughout life. These can be made up of emotional memories of past hurt, tragedy, fear, abuse, neglect, abandonment, or lack of parental