Objectives: The study investigates the psychic structure and psychiatric comorbidity of chronic pain patients according to Kernberg's concept of personality organization.
Methods: We assessed 48 chronic pain patients attending the Behavioural Medicine Pain Clinic in the Department of Psychiatry. Patients were diagnosed using the SCID (DSM-IV). Psychic structure was assessed using the Structured Interview of Personality Organization (STIPO).
Results: At least one psychiatric diagnosis was found in 94 % of the patients, and 63 % of the patients met the criteria of at least one diagnosis of a personality disorder. In 58 % of the patients, we diagnosed a borderline personality organization, with high deficits in the dimensions of coping, defence mechanisms and identity.
Conclusions: The high prevalence of borderline personality organization confirms the importance of a diagnostic investigation of the psychic structure and the necessity for psychotherapeutic treatment in chronic pain patients.