People who suffer from borderline personality disorder (BPD) (an emotional disorder) and bulimia nervosa (an eating disorder) have been known to ruminate intensely, rehearsing over and over their feelings about an upsetting situation. Dr. Selby speculates self-damaging behaviors may serve as numbing substitutes for intense self-examination of this sort. In the current research project, he seeks to examine people affected by each disorder separately, as a means of distinguishing one from the other for the ultimate purpose of refining diagnosis and tailoring treatments more precisely and effectively for individual patients.
