Mary Zanarini

Career

Zanarini's work in psychiatry began to gain prominence with her studies on the longitudinal course of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Her research has contributed to demonstrating that, contrary to previous beliefs, many patients with BPD can achieve significant long-term remission of symptoms. She has spent her career studying the phenomenology and long-term course of borderline personality disorder, childhood experiences of adversity, and co-occurring disorders. Additionally, Zanarini's work encompasses avoidant personality disorder. She is the founding president of the North American Society for the Study of Personality Disorders (NASSPD).

She oversees a research program at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts. For over 10 years, Dr. Zanarini and her colleagues at McLean have followed approximately 300 former inpatients with borderline personality disorder. During the course of this study, a large majority of patients achieved remission, while over half achieved recovery—no longer meeting diagnostic criteria for borderline personality disorder as well as achieving better social and occupational functioning. Zanarini's research found that four different psychotherapies (mentalization-based treatment, transference focused psychotherapy, dialectical behavior therapy, and schema-focused therapy) were effective in improving the severity of impulses and self-destructiveness of patients with BPD.

Zanarini led the development of the McLean Screening Instrument for Borderline Personality Disorder (MSI-BPD), which is a commonly used test to screen for BPD, and the Zanarini Rating Scale for Borderline Personality Disorder (ZAN-BPD), a standardized, diagnostic rating scale designed to measure the severity and changes of BPD over time.