The state-trait anger test, the STAXI-2, provides a description of state and trait in real terms that we can apply (Borteyrou, et al. 2008). I chose anger because it is often a component of personality disorder (Varghese, et al. 2010), especially Borderline PD.
Trait anger is measured as temperament and reaction (Varghese, et al. 2010). State anger is measured as angry feelings, verbal expression, and physical expression--or violence. Trait here can be described as a personality construct that consists of cognitive and motivational factors that describe how a client thinks and what he believes; his thinking (state) may be distorted because of problems in the underlying constructs (traits) (Owen, 2011). As construct implies permanence, a therapist would want to find ways to alter or replace those permanent constructs (traits), that, in turn, would improve behaviors (state). Reconstruction of traits to provide better states (behaviors) is a way to describe the cognitive strategy of CBT.
Pharmacology seeks to manage traits as vulnerabilities and states as symptoms (Bellino, 2008). This implies that a defective trait needs to be fixed by making it less vulnerable with medicine. Topiramate is an anticonvulsant that can be used to manage anger in Borderline PD clients, and especially shows improvement for trait anger using the STAXI-2 (Varghese, et al. 2010), implying that it makes the clients less "vulnerable" to angry outbursts.
References
Bellino, S., Paradiso, E., & Bogetto, F. (2008). Efficacy and Tolerability of Pharmacotherapies for Borderline Personality Disorder. CNS Drugs, 22(8), 671-692. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Borteyrou, X., Bruchon-Schweitzer, M., & Spielberger, C. D. (2008). The French adaptation of the STAXI-2, C.D. Spielberger's State-trait anger expression inventory. Encephale. 34(3) (pp 249-255).
Owen, J. M. (2011). Transdiagnostic cognitive processes in high trait anger. Clinical Psychology Review.31(2) (pp 193-202).
Varghese, B. S., Rajeev, A., Norrish, M., & Bin Mohammed Al Khusaiby, S. (2010). Topiramate for anger control: A systematic review. Indian Journal of Pharmacology. 42(3) (pp. 135–141).
Part II
The 7 studies I looked at (on PubMed) focused on state-trait anger, and Borderline PD was a secondary focus. They were all positive for use, though all recommended more study.
The most critical study was an overall view of pharmacology for Borderline PD (Lieb, et al., 2010). It stated that medications should target Borderline PD symptoms, and the disorder as a whole. This suggests an interesting (though hypothetical) state-trait question. If a drug is effectively treating a symptom, such as angry outbursts, but is shown by testing to be treating a trait (vulnerability) as much as state (symptom), then is the trait is only a single component of the disorder?
(I say "hypothetical" because only the study I cited, Varghese, et al. (2010), specifically offered trait data, though 6 of the 7 did trait-state anger testing.)
Returning to the conceptual idea of a trait as a distorted construct (Owen, 2011) that causes irrational talk and actions, my significant thoughts while writing this were about using Dialectal Behavioral Therapy (DBT), with pharmacology only as a support. DBT focuses on a near-mechanical cognitive restructuring of the client's destructive psychological constructs (trait) that dominate his actions (state) (Oldham, Skodol, & Bender, 2009). Assertiveness is taught as a skill to challenge the ill-logic of the defective constructs so as to remain "on track" to recovery (p. 242). Interestingly, this thought process is categorized in terms of "interpersonal effectiveness" (p. 242). Intrapersonal might be more descriptive of the client's self-approach to trait change.
References
Lieb, K., Völlm, B., Rücker, G., Timmer, A., & Stoffers, J. M. (2010). Pharmacotherapy for borderline personality disorder: Cochrane systematic review of randomised trials.British Journal of Psychiatry. 196(1) (pp. 4-12).
Oldham, J., Skodol, A., & Bender, D. (2009). Essentials of Personality Disorders. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc.
Varghese, B. S., Rajeev, A., Norrish, M., & Bin Mohammed Al Khusaiby, S. (2010). Topiramate for anger control: A systematic review. Indian Journal of Pharmacology. 42(3) (pp. 135–141).
With Ed Snowden's NSA-leaking, the need for L4 as a modular, transparent operating system becomes even more obvious, and Linux with its monolithic/oligarchic architecture (and culture) becomes increasingly dangerous, and Windows might capitulate to the ultra-quick buck. Link below-right leads to my "crucible" on oddmuse where I do my "status updates."