Borderline Personality Disorder Information

As it is borderline personality disorder (emotionally unstable personality disorder) awareness month, and being a mental health nurse with this disorder, I wanted to do a post providing information regarding this illness. Please do not use this as a diagnosis tool. Only your GP or a psychiatric doctor can correctly diagnose you.

People that have borderline personality disorder often feel like they are on a rollercoaster. With emotions, relationships and even the sense of who you are. Things such as self-image, likes and dislikes change frequently in ways that can become quite confusing to the individual.

BPD Individuals tend to be extremely sensitive, small things can trigger intense reactions. With intense reactions, it can be very difficult to calm back down. It can be a painful cycle that feels impossible to break, but it is possible with the correct help.


The causes of borderline personality can vary and has many different factors leading to someone getting this diagnosis. People with borderline personality disorder (also known as emotionally unstable personality disorder) would have usually faced difficulties in their childhood. This could include things such as neglect, physical, sexual or emotional abuse.


1. Fear of abandonment. People with BPD often have a fear of abandonment. This means that these individuals will go to extreme efforts to keep people close.

2. Unstable Relationships. When someone has BPD their relationships are often very intense and short-lived. Often, falling in love quickly and believing each new person is the person that completes you and is the one.

3. Feeling suspicious, or out of touch with reality. Sufferers of BPD often struggle with paranoia and have suspicions about the motivations of others. When under a large amount of stress, it is also known for someone to lose touch with reality (dissociation). When dissociation occurs, an individual will feel spaced out, as if you're outside of your own body.

4. Explosive Anger. Someone with BPD can experience intense anger and may have trouble in controlling their temper, and can become easily consumed by rage. This doesnt always mean that you direct your anger outwards, but you may spend a lot of time being angry at yourself.

5. Feelings Of Emptiness. BPD Individuals often speak about their feelings of emptiness, like there is a hole inside of them. This feeling is uncomfortable, so you may try to fill the hole with things like drugs, food, or sex.

6. Mood Swings. Unstable emotions and moods are common with BPD. One moment, you may feel happy, and the next, despondent. Little things that other people brush off can send you into an emotional tailspin. These mood swings are intense, but they tend to pass fairly quickly (unlike the emotional swings of depression or bipolar disorder), usually lasting just a few minutes or hours.

7. Unclear or unstable self-image. When you have BPD, your sense of self is typically unstable. Sometimes you may feel good about yourself, but other times you hate yourself, or even view yourself as evil. You probably dont have a clear idea of who you are or what you want in life. As a result, you may frequently change jobs, friends, lovers, religion, values, goals, and even sexual identity.

8. Self-Harm. Self harm and suicidal behaviour is common among people with this illness.

9. Impulsive. If you have BPD, you may engage in harmful, sensation-seeking behaviors, especially when youre upset. You may impulsively spend money you cant afford, binge eat, drive recklessly, shoplift, engage in risky sex, or overdo it with drugs or alcohol.


Borderline personality disorder is rarely diagnosed on its own. Disorders that often occur with borderline include:
Depression
Bipolar Disorder
Substance Abuse
Eating Disorders
Anxiety Disorders

When BPD is successfully treated, the other disorders often get better, too. But the reverse isnt always true. For example, you may successfully treat symptoms of depression and still struggle with BPD.


There is no specific medication to treat borderline personality disorder. However, your doctor may offer you medication to help treat some of the symptoms you may experience. Medication that is given are usually:
Antidepressants
Antipsychotics
Mood Staberlizers


BPD affects 5.9% of adults at some time in their life
BPD affects 50% more people than Alzheimers disease and nearly as many as schizophrenia and bipolar combined
BPD affects 20% of patients admitted to psychiatric hospitals
BPD affects 10% of people in outpatient mental health treatment


Due to the behaviour of someone who has a personality disorder they are commonly called manipulative, attention-seeking, demanding and obstructive. I wanted to talk about these all individually as it is all negative stigma that is attached to borderline personality disorder.

1. Manipulative. This is a very harsh comment to make about someone. Try to imagine what someone with a personality disorder has gone through, and then think about what extremes you would go to protect yourself. Isnt it true that life is a fight for survival or would it be seen that way through the eyes of someone with a personality disorder?

2. Attention Seeking. There are many people with personality disorders; they may be considered attention seekers but let me ask you, if you had a cold, what is it you look for from your partner or friends? Isnt it comfort, reassurance and attention? So why would it be any different for someone suffering from severe emotional distress?

3. Demanding. Imagine having a broken leg, you know there is treatment and with a little patience you will be better before you know it. With a personality disorder you are likely to experience the problem for many years with no real hope of a cure but your symptoms are likely to lessen as you grow older. Unlike a broken leg, you can not exactly see what is wrong but you can definitely feel it. I am sure everyone will agree this would make anyone quite demanding and impatient.

4. Obstructive. People with mental health issues have been often through mental health services for years. People with a personality disorder are likely to be involved with services for much longer than the standard mental health patient. They are offered so many services and therapies that have different names but often mean the same; they often end up feeling like a bit of a guinea pig, and reluctant to continue with another service or therapy.