Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)

What is Borderline Personality Disorder? Defined by the website www.borderlinepersonalitydisorder.com, “Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a serious mental illness that causes unstable moods, behavior, and relationships. It usually begins during adolescence or early adulthood.” One may wonder what can be the cause of this disorder. BPD can be detected by an in-person interview about the symptoms that are occurring. The input from family and close friends of the individual that is being treated can also help detect the symptoms. The causes for BPD are not fully

A personality disorder is characterized by a distinct pattern of behavior that does not meet normal standards of behavior within one’s culture. This pattern is ingrained as the norm to the person affected, and the characteristics of the affected person deviate markedly from societal standards (Hebblethwaite, 2009). The two main features that help to identify a personality disorder are chronic interpersonal difficulties and persons with one’s identity or sense of self (Livesly, 2001). Within this set of mental health disorders lie several other subsets, including one of the most prominent personality disorders - Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). BPD is a severe, long-lasting disorder that has an incidence of occurrence approximately equal to that of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia combined (Grant, Chou, Goldstein et al., 2008). BPD also puts those affected at risk for damage in many areas of their life if not properly diagnosed and treated, including personal relationships, school, work, and self-imagine. Furthermore, this disorder has a high co-morbidity with other disorders such as depression, substance abuse, eating disorders, and social phobia, among many more (Hebblethwaite, 2009). Misdiagnosis of borderline personality disorder can have serious clinical implications. This paper looks to identify the risk factors associated with BPD, the affects on various aspects of the person’s life, treatments, and give recommendations as to how to properly identify and

The main feature of borderline personality disorder is the pervasive pattern of unstable relationships, self-image, and impulsiveness. Borderline personality disorder begins by early adulthood and is present in a variety of situations. A person with borderline personality disorder will make major efforts to avoid any situation of abandonment. There are many symptoms that go along with having borderline personality disorder. Some examples would include: intense fears of abandonment, intense anger and irritability, impulsive and risky behavior, and wide mood swings. Self-harm, suicidal behavior and substance intoxication are very common in people with borderline personality disorder. A person with BPD experiences emotions in different ways than

Family studies have demonstrated that first-degree relatives of borderlines are five times more likely to also fulfill the BPD diagnosis that the general public. Family members of borderlines also are more likely to be diagnosed with related illnesses, especially substances abuse, affective disorders, and antisocial personality disorder. Undoubtedly, genetic contributions- modified by environmental influences- to the development of BPD are dependent on multiple factors and probably engage multiple chromosomal loci (Kreisman, 2004, p. 14).

“Personality disorders have been documented in approximately 9 percent of the general U.S. population” (Angstman, Rasmussen, 2011). Emotional dysregulation disorder or its common name borderline personality disorder is a very serious and chronic disorder. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) describes borderline personality disorder as “a pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity that begins by early adulthood and is present in a variety of contexts” (Gardner, 2006). Within the last 20 years, psychologists and other mental health professionals have made tremendous strides in research on what exactly borderline personality disorder, some of its triggers and possible effective treatment options. Borderline personality disorder is defined as a disorder that generates severe emotional instability which can be a springboard that can lead to other stress induced mental and behavioral problems.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is an emotional disorder that causes emotional instability, leading to stress and other problems. With borderline personality disorder your image of yourself is distorted, making you feel worthless and fundamentally flawed. Your anger, impulsivity and frequent mood swings may push others away, even though you desire loving relationships. It is an often misunderstood, serious mental illness characterized by pervasive instability in moods, interpersonal relationships, self- image and behavior. It is a disorder of emotional dysregulation. This instability often disrupts family and work, long-term planning and the individual’s sense of self-identity. While less well known than schizophrenia or bipolar

Borderline personality disorder is a serious mental condition that is often associated with unstable moods, behaviors, and relationships. BPD originated from the 1930’s. The psychoanalyst, Adolf Stern, noted that there was a group of emotionally troubled people that did not fall into the categories of “neurotic” and “psychotic”. This dubbed the term of “borderline”. Although the causes are not exactly understood, it is believed to be associated with a variety of environmental factors, such as, neglect or child abuse. According to Psychology Today, “forty to 71 percent of BPD patients report having been sexually abused, usually by a noncaregiver.” (?). In addition, studies on twins and families have shown that BPD may be inherited. Other studies show that it may have to do with your social or cultural environment. For instance, a person that grew up in an unstable family might later develop the same types

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a severe psychiatric condition, characterized by a set of learned behaviors and emotional responses to traumatic or neglectful environments, particularly in childhood. They are in most instances depicted as socially unacceptable and are often avoided by others. Introduced in 1938 by psychoanalyst Adolf Stern was the term “borderline”. This was used to categorize between psychosis and neurosis. During the time people considered to have neurosis were presumed to be treatable, while individuals assumed to have psychosis were suspected to be untreatable. Around the 1970’s the comprehension of BPD arose. There are many determining factors, but most frequently they are characterized by the individual’s extreme

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a severe and dominant psychiatric condition featuring affective instability, marked impulsivity, and substantial deficits in the ability to work and sustain meaningful relationships (Hadjipavlou and Ogrodniczuk 2010). In addition, BPD individuals suffer with deep fear of abandonment, identity conflicts and paranoid ideations (Hadjipavlou and Ogrodniczuk 2010). Further, BPD individuals

In order to receive this diagnosis a person must display 5 of the 9 possible symptoms (American Psychological Association, 2013). The symptoms of BPD are as follows; efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment, patterns of unstable relationships that are intense, identity disturbance, impulsivity in a minimum of two areas that can be damaging, recurring suicidal behaviour or self-mutilating behaviour, mood instability, feelings of emptiness that are chronic, difficulty controlling anger and severe dissociative symptoms (American Psychological Association, 2013) . Disco Di displayed many of these symptoms such as having trouble separating from her parents, substance abuse, sexual promiscuity, being unsure about what she wants to do with her life, uncontrollable episodes of anger and has attempted suicide multiple times. It is not surprising that she was also given a diagnosis of BPD as the comorbidity rate for these patients to also have an Axis I or Axis II Disorder has proven to be high. For example, in the study “Axis I and II comorbidity and psychosocial functioning in female adolescents with borderline personality disorder”, by Kaess, Ceumern-Lindenstjerna, Parzer, Chanen, Mundt, Resch, and Brunner, female adolescent patients with BPD and other psychiatric diagnoses were assessed by clinicians to screen for Axis I and II disorders (Kaess, Ceumern-Lindenstjerna, Parzer, Chanen, Mundt, Resch &

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) affects about 4% of the general population, and at least 20% of the clinical psychiatric population. (Kernberg and Michels, 2009) In the clinical psychiatric population, about 75% of those with the disorder are women. BPD is also significantly heritable, with 42-68% of the variance associated

Some studies have investigated the effect of childhood experiences of those who suffer from BPD on the quality of their current romantic relationships. In the article "Features of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), Perceived Childhood Emotional Invalidation, and Dysfunction Within Current Romantic Relationships" by Edward A. Selby, Scott R. Braithwaite, Thomas E. Joiner Jr., and Frank D. Finchham (2008) the relationship between features of BPD and current romantic relationship dysfunction is examined. For this study 758 participants, 48% of who were women, between the ages of 18 and 23, were recruited from a previous study on substance abuse in young adults. In order for participants to be included, they had to report currently being in a relationship. All participants then had to complete a face to face interview (70%) or a phone interview (30%). The interviews measured BPD features, childhood emotional invalidation by parents, and depressive episodes over the last year. It also measured relationship dysfunction and relationship disturbances in the last year (Selby et al., 2008). In order to measure BPD features participants had to answer eight questions taken from the International Personality Disorder Exam (IPDE) screening questionnaire, which was designed to measure BPD symptoms. Participants were asked to answer each of the questions in response to how they felt about themselves using a 3 point scale (1 = very true, 2 = somewhat true, 3 = not true). The items were

Women are more likely to be diagnosed as having “borderline personality disorder” (BPD) more often than men. Many of the descriptors of BPD can be viewed differently when one considers a history of childhood and adult abuse.

Borderline Personality Disorder is known to be the most common personality disorder among Adolescence. Borderline Personality Disorder is a severe mental illness marked by unstable moods, behavior and relationships. Adolescence is recognized as a time of development in which self-identity is acknowledged and they develop their own individual characteristics. At this age they tend to explore their surroundings to experiment, learn, and “see for themselves.” This topic is relevant to psychology because even though it’s still questionable as to whether BPD should be diagnosed among adolescence, it allows me to elaborate on the impacts of this specific topic. Environmental factors and genetics are known to be the cause of BPD. It is known that females are more likely to be diagnosed with BPD. Evidence continues to support that BPD constitutes a valid and reliable disorder in adolescence.

Comorbidity of this disorder as a person who suffers Borderline Personality Disorder is in general unpredictable as their emotions can easily snap in between. They tend to comorbid with mood disorders and other personality disorders such as narcissistic, histrionic, antisocial and schizotypal ( Nietzal et al., 1998).