Sexual aspects of the body in borderline patients

One of the most prominent characteristics of severe borderline pathology is a mechanistic and self-destructive relation with the body, in which the latter is conceived of as non-functional, inanimate or even dead. The view of one's body from without, as if the borderline places himself separate from his body and observes it, is characteristic. The patient experiences his body becoming alive only when he activates a ritual of perversive order, pertaining to a relation with substances, with food, a paraphilia or a combination of some of the above. The sexuality of the borderline patients, which is under the shadow of perversity, prefers skin contact, contact through touch. It concerns a perversive sexuality, which remains attached to sensations and emotions, rejecting penetration or the bodily depth. In the end, in severe borderline pathology, the sexual contact fails to provide satisfaction of genital order while bringing about a mere satisfaction of psychic order. It is a peculiar satisfaction since it derives from a never-ending search for satisfaction through perpetual excitation of desire, which is finally obtained via self-satisfaction and in most cases in the absence of the external object.