Agnieszka Chrzczonowicz-Stępień

Introduction and objective: The data regarding personality disorders is ambiguous; it is estimated that their prevalence may range from 6% to 30%. In Poland, there is a lack of up-to-date and precise data on the occurrence of personality disorders, partly due to diagnostic difficulties. Currently implemented classifications of mental disorders take into account the dimensional nature of personality disorders. The project reported on below is based on the dimensional approach and has three main objectives. Firstly, it aims to determine the possibility of distinguishing groups that present different levels of personality functioning. Secondly, it seeks to analyse differences between the identified groups in terms of socio-demographic variables, experiences related to the treatment of mental health disorders, traumatic experiences in childhood and adolescence, as well as self-harm and suicidal behaviours throughout life. The third goal is to present a practitioner’s perspective on the treatment of individuals with personality difficulties and disorders depending on their severity. Materials and methods: The study was conducted by a research panel (N = 1,030; representative sample). The level of personality functioning was measured using the self-report Level of Personality Functioning Scale–Brief Form 2.0 according to DSM-5 (LPFS-BF 2.0). Results: The results indicated the possibility of distinguishing three groups presenting different levels of personality functioning. These groups differed significantly in variables including age, gender, education, size of place of residence, depressive/anxiety symptoms, and history of traumatic experiences. Conclusions: The findings of the study may have significant implications for the development of effective mental health prevention strategies and tailored medical care for individuals with personality difficulties and disorders.

Background: Homicide combined with subsequent suicide of the perpetrator is a particular form of interpersonal violence and, at the same time, a manifestation of extreme aggression directed against oneself. Despite the relatively well-described individual acts of homicide and suicide, both in terms of psychopathology and law, acts of homicide and subsequent suicide committed by the same person are not well-studied phenomena. The importance of emotional factors, including the influence of mental state deviations (psychopathology), on this phenomenon, is discussed in the literature, but still there is relatively little data with which to attempt neuropathological assessments of the brains of suicide killers. This paper is dedicated to the issue based on the neuropathological studies performed. Methods: We analyzed a group of murder–suicides using histochemical and immunohistochemical methods. Results: The results of our research indicate the presence of neurodegenerative changes including multiple deposits of ß-amyloid in the form of senile/amyloid plaques and perivascular diffuse plaques. Conclusions: Neurodegenerative changes found in the analyzed brains of suicide killers may provide an interesting starting point for a number of analyses. The presence of neurodegenerative changes at such a young age in some murderers may suggest preclinical lesions that affect cognitive functions and are associated with depressed moods.