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Personality disorder integrated care pathway
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Medication
Medication for co-occurring mental illness

Please update your RDS mobile app to version 4.7.1

We are pleased to advise that deep linking capability, enabling users to directly download individual mobile toolkits, has now been released on the RDS mobile app. When you install the update, you will see that each toolkit has a small QR code icon the header area beside the search icon – see screenshot below. Clicking on this icon will open up a window with a full-size QR code and the alternative of a short URL for sharing with users. Instructions are provided.

You may need to actively install the update to install RDS app version 4.7.1 to see this improvement. Installing this update is also strongly recommended to get the full benefits of the new contingency arrangements – specifically, that if the RDS website should fail, you will still be able to download new mobile app toolkits.

To check your current RDS version, click on the three dots bottom right of the RDS app screen. This takes you to a “More” page where you will see the version number. To install latest updates:

On iPhones – go to the Apple store, click on your profile icon top right, scroll down to see the apps waiting to be updated and update the RDS app.

On Android phones – these can vary, but try going to the Google Play store, click on your profile icon top right, click on “Manage apps and device”, select and update the RDS app.

Please get in touch with ann.wales3@nhs.scot with any questions.

Medication for co-occurring mental illness

Personality disorder integrated care pathway

If there is co-occurring mental illness, this should be treated with medication as appropriate. People with co-occurring personality disorder are often excluded from randomised controlled trials for mental state disorders. This has an impact on the generalisibility of much of the evidence base. In light of this, close monitoring of response and side effects is recommended as people with personality disorder may experience atypical effects with psychotropic medication.

For example, increased emotional dysregulation, dysphoria and parasuicidal phenomena occur not infrequently when SSRIs are prescribed to individuals with borderline personality disorder. It is recommended that treatment for co-occurring mental illness takes into account personality factors. If personality factors are not addressed as part of the overall treatment plan, progress may be slower. Consideration should be given to prioritising treatment of personality factors where appropriate, for example, when traits of rigidity and perfectionism predispose to recurrent depressive episodes.