A naturalistic borderline-personality-disorder study found reduced medication burden among skills-training participants. Participation was not randomized, and reduced prescribing was not itself a functional outcome.
The study compared 182 participants in a dialectical-behavioral skills module with 195 patients who did not participate. Benzodiazepine use declined from 54.4% to 27.5% in participants, while remaining about forty percent in controls.
Overall medicine count and medication-load measures also declined more in the participating group.
People choosing or completing skills training may differ in motivation, symptoms, attendance, and clinical management. Baseline medication burden also differed. The before-and-after comparison cannot isolate the effect of the skills module.
The authors cautioned that fewer medicines did not necessarily establish improved functioning. A deprescribing outcome should be assessed alongside symptoms, withdrawal effects, daily function, and patient goals. The paper supports further study of structured psychological care, but cannot prove that participation alone enabled benzodiazepine reduction or that reducing every individual prescription would be beneficial.
Original analysis of the supplied journal article, identified as PMC9305183.