Borderline Personality Disorder - Information (Honors Project)

Borderline Personality Disorder
(BPD)

Hello, ya lovely peeps!! I know theres already a lot of forum posts on here about BPD and how to manage it (and has its own forum segment in our community!!), but since I personally dont feel very informed, I hope you can join me throughout this post and learn what I learned!!

- What is BPD? -

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, borderline personality disorder is a mental disorder marked by a pattern of ongoing instability in moods, behavior, self-image, and functioning. (Borderline Personality Disorder). In turn, this can result in capricious (or impulsive) actions and unstable connections with other people.

★ Interesting Fact: Also stated by NIMH, many mental health experts today believe the term borderline personality disorder can be very misleading, but as of now, a more accurate term still hasnt been found yet!

- What are the symptoms? -

As quoted from PsychCentral and NIMH, these are the most common:

→ Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment

→ A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation

→ Identity disturbance, such as a significant and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self

→ Impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (e.g., spending, sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, binge eating)

→ Recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, threats, or self-mutilating behavior

→ Emotional instability due to significant reactivity of mood (e.g., intense episodic dysphoria, irritability, or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days)

→ Chronic feelings of emptiness

→ Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g., frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights)

→ Having severe dissociative symptoms, such as feeling cut off from oneself, observing oneself from outside the body, or losing touch with reality

★ Important Note: These symptoms can also be triggered by significantly common events.

- What are the causes? -

Though the direct causes are not exactly known, psychologists take the biopsychosocial approach toward understanding the roots of the illness. (Bressert, Borderline Personality Disorder Symptoms). Therefore, were led to pinpoint causes to:

► Genetics - BPD is about five times more likely to occur if a person has a close family member or relative with the disorder.

► Environmental & Social Factors - Many people with BPD report having experienced traumatic life events, such as abuse or abandonment during childhood. Others may have been exposed to unstable relationships and hostile conflicts.

★ Important Note: However, some people with BPD do not have a history of trauma. In addition, many people with a history of traumatic life events do not have BPD.

► Neuroscience (Biological factors) - Studies show that people with BPD have structural and functional changes in the brain, especially in the segments that regulate impulses and emotional stability.

★ Important Note: Some people with similar changes in the brain do not have BPD. More research is needed to really understand the relationship between brain structure and function and BPD.)

- How can it be treated? -

✔ Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT): CBT can help people with BPD identify and change core beliefs and/or attitudes that build inaccurate perceptions of themselves and others (which leads to problems interacting with others.) CBT may help reduce a range of mood and anxiety symptoms and reduce the number of suicidal or self-harming behaviors.

✔ Dialectical-Behavioral Therapy (DBT): This type of therapy grasps the concept of mindfulness, or being aware of and attentive to the current situation and moods. DBT also teaches skills to control intense emotions, overcome self-destructive behaviors, and improve relationships.

★ Side Note: DBT differs from CBT in that it integrates traditional CBT elements with mindfulness, acceptance, and techniques to improve a persons ability to tolerate stress and control his or her emotions.

✔ Schema-Focused Therapy: This type of therapy combines elements of CBT with other forms of psychotherapy that focus on reframing schemas, or the ways people view themselves. This approach is based on the idea that BPD stems from a dysfunctional self-image—possibly brought on by negative childhood experiences—that affects how people react to their environment, interact with others, and cope with problems or stress.

✔ Systems Training for Emotional Predictability and Problem Solving (STEPPS): A type of group therapy that aims to educate family members, significant others, and healthcare professionals about BPD and gives them guidance on how to interact consistently with the person with the disorder using the STEPPS approach and terminology. STEPPS is designed to supplement other treatments the patient may be receiving, such as medication or individual psychotherapy.

★ Important Note: Families of people with BPD may also benefit from therapy. The challenges of dealing with a loved one with BPD on a daily basis can be very stressful, and family members may unknowingly act in ways that worsen their relative's symptoms.

- Questions & Conclusion!! -

If youve read up to this point, I sincerely thank you!! I believe this is a very very important topic that is very often misunderstood, and as a community, were already making a difference in shaping it, so lets keep at it!! <3 If you know anyone with BPD or you yourself have it, please please please consider receiving help!! You and others going through this truly deserve it!! :D Before you go, though, I do have some questions for yall!

◘ Do you have any friends or family members with BPD? If so, how is it like?

◘ What common stigma about the disorder would you wish to crush if you had the chance?

◘ How did you find out about BPD for the first time?

◘ If anything, what did you learn from this post?

Thank you!! I hope you have a marvelous day! Take lots and lots of care, peeps!!

- Sources -

✫ https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/borderline-personality-disorder/index.shtml#part_145387

✫ https://psychcentral.com/disorders/borderline-personality-disorder-symptoms/

@EssenceOfHope