Oxytocin trial investigates enhanced psychotherapy outcomes, social trust, and emotion recognition in **Borderline Personality Disorder**.

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a severe mental health condition characterized by emotional dysregulation, impulsivity, unstable relationships, and a distorted self-image. Current standard-of-care, such as Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), is effective but often requires intensive, long-term commitment, and treatment outcomes can vary significantly. A key challenge in BPD is impaired social cognition, including difficulties with trust and emotion recognition, which contribute to interpersonal dysfunction and hinder therapeutic progress. Oxytocin, a neuropeptide known for its crucial role in social bonding, trust, and emotional processing, is being explored as an adjunct therapy to potentially enhance the efficacy of psychotherapy and directly address these core social cognitive deficits in BPD. This research aims to bridge the gap in optimizing treatment responses and improving specific social cognitive functions by leveraging oxytocin's known biological effects.

This randomized controlled trial (RCT) is designed to evaluate the effects of oxytocin compared to placebo in Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) patients. Participants are receiving in-patient standard psychotherapy, specifically Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (Marsha Linehan, 2006). The study has an actual enrollment of 100 participants. The primary objective is to assess if oxytocin provides additional benefits to the overall therapy achievements of patients. Secondary objectives include investigating if oxytocin enhances social trust and emotion recognition in BPD patients, and comparing its effects between BPD and major depression populations. The study design incorporates two distinct substudies: a clinical component and an experimental component, though specific details regarding oxytocin dose, route of administration, or frequency are not provided in this record.

The provided research record describes the objectives and design of an ongoing or recently completed randomized controlled trial, but it does not present any specific findings, results, or statistical data. Therefore, no quantitative outcomes, p-values, or effect sizes can be reported at this time. The study aims to determine if oxytocin can enhance psychotherapy achievements, social trust, and emotion recognition in Borderline Personality Disorder patients, but the results are not yet available. This summary reflects the study's stated goals rather than its outcomes.