Borderline Personality Disorder
What Is Borderline Personality Disorder?
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is characterized by an instability that affects moods, behavior, relationships, and your sense of self. And, while we all experience shifts in our feelings at some point in our lives, those with BPD experience them with significantly higher intensity. This type of mental unrest creates difficult and frequently unstable relationships for both the individual and those close to them.
Because of these emotional swings, BPD is occasionally misconstrued with bipolar disorder. However, it differs as to how these shifts occur much more often, usually within a single day and sometimes within an hour, as opposed to the weeks-long cycle of mania and depression with bipolar.
If you have borderline mood swings, you may go from sad to angry, terrified to happy all in a matter of minutes.
One of the primary causes of this is fear over being abandoned. There is frequently a strong and irrational fear that people close to the sufferer are about to abandon them. Being late for a meeting with a borderline, for example, can trigger that person to turn to verbal abuse due to a perceived lack of attention. This attitude and lack of critical thinking can also drive impulsive behaviors, which frequently emerge as a result of these "emotional slights."
The symptoms of BPD are strongly intertwined, with each one frequently influencing the development of the next, somewhat like a domino effect.
Signs & Symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder is characterized by nine major symptoms, with the official requirements for a diagnosis needing at least a minimum five of the following to be noticeable:
Fear of Abandonment: For somebody with BPD, the idea of being abandoned is indeed a very real possibility, no matter how unlikely it is. It can lead to extremely codependent relationships and cause problems with friends, family, and lovers.
Unstable Relationships: Because of the fear of abandonment and mood swings, unstable relationships are widespread. They are typically considered as either flawless or dreadful – also known as 'idealization' and 'devaluation’, respectively.
Uncertain Sense of Identity: Also known as a "identity disturbance”, this arises from experiencing such low self-worth that the urge is felt to constantly seek ways to increase esteem by changing appearance, friends, relationships, values, goals, and even sexual orientation.
Impulsive Behaviors: These behaviors are frequently associated with self-destructive tendencies, a low sense of self-esteem, or a desire for attention. These include excessive spending, binge eating, substance misuse, and other dangerous behaviors.
Self-Harm & Suicidal Behaviour: This is a typical occurrence, and it is generally the result of abandonment concerns, emotional swings, and emptiness taking a toll on the individual. Suicidal behavior involves not only attempted suicides but also suicidal thoughts and threats.
Erratic Emotions: BPD emotional swings differ from regular mood variations in that they are really extreme, typically spanning for a few hours. They're also usually sparked by insignificant incidents that others would dismiss.
Extreme Episodes of Anger: Anger problems have been strongly connected to abandonment and disappointed expectations in interpersonal relationships. If a person with BPD believes they are being ignored, it is not uncommon for them to express rage that is out of proportion to the situation.
Feelings of Emptiness: People with BPD may frequently express how they feel 'empty' or how they are 'nothing' on the inside. This frequently leads to a fluctuating sense of identity and indulging in impulsive behaviors as a way of compensating for a supposed lack of self.
Dissociating/Losing Touch With Reality: Dissociation and stress-related paranoia are common side effects of emotional instability and abandonment fear, prompting the person to be skeptical of the intentions of others. It might be quite difficult to reason with someone who has BPD.
WHAT TREATMENTS ARE AVAILABLE?
At Manor Clinic, we provide a variety of treatments that have been shown to be beneficial in the treatment of BPD. The following are the most frequently approved kinds of BPD treatment at the moment:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Dialectical Behavior Therapy
Mentalisation-based Therapy