Borderline Personality Disorder Research Paper

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

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) can be described in simple terms as a condition in which sufferers experience long periods of emotional instability and troubled feelings about themselves and other people. These troubled feelings allow individuals to take impulsive measures and have trouble in their relationships (Bouchard, Sabourin, Lussier & Villeneuve, 2009). BPD basically comprises of unusual intensities of instability in mood and irrational thinking also referred to as splitting. Splitting in BPD involves a switch between negative perception of others and idealization (Sperry, 2003). This usually occurs along with irregular mood swings and can negatively impact on the existing relationships such as family,

Other symptoms of borderline personality disorder include efforts to avoid abandonment, impulsive behavior, distorted sense of self, chronic feelings of emptiness, inappropriate and intense anger or problems controlling anger, stress related to paranoid thoughts, a pattern of unstable relationships with family, friends, and loved ones. Mood and emotion are often swinging from extreme dislike or rage andhaving feelings to harm themselves such as cutting themselve out of the world, observing themselves from outside the body and feeling vulnuarable, or losing touch with reality (National Institute of Mental Health, 2016). The symptoms can be triggered by minor separations, such as vacations and sudden change of plans (Chapman and Gratz 2013). Chapman and Gratz also stated when an individual has borderline personality disorder they have unstable emotions, one minute the person can feel joyful and then suddenly they can have intense negative emotions. Emotions that are most common and are particularly tough for people with borderline personality disorder includes sadness, shame, loneliness, fear, and anger toward themselves. People with borderline personality disorder often fear rejection and abandonment, especially when it comes to

Due to the fact BPD is most common in women, could that be linked to a

“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.

According to the DSM-IV-TR (2000), BPD is a personality disorder, which is defined as a pattern of unstable interpersonal relationships, poor self-image, emotional instability, and efforts to avoid the feeling of being abandoned real or imagined. The cause of BPD is unsure. There can be many factors that cause its development, such as a person’s biology, psychology, and social

Mothers who also have borderline personality disorder will sometimes punish their children severely and not monitor their actions properly. Mothers with borderline personality disorder act differently than mothers without BPD, such as lashing out, not monitoring their children because of depression, and can lead to children mimicking their behavior or their bad habits. They can also get irritated with their children easier. Mothers who have borderline personality disorder will have a harder time being emotionally there for their children. Children are more likely to have attention disorders, aggressive behavior, or low self-esteem. Children may feel that their mothers love is toxic to them. Having borderline personality disorder as an adolescent

There are many signs and symptoms that people with borderline personality disorder may experience. The first, and most obvious is the extreme change in moods. This can cause them to display uncertainty about who they are and their interests and values can change very often and rapidly. Another symptom of borderline personality disorder is that they have frantic efforts to avoid abandonment, whether it be imagined or real. They don’t want to feel like they don’t have anyone there for them. They can also have patterns of intense and unstable relationships with family, friends, and loved ones. During some periods of time they experience extreme closeness and love for people around them, this is known as idealization, and at other times they dislike them a whole lot or have a lot of anger towards them, this is known as devaluation. They may experience distorted and unstable self-image or sense of self and they have a lot of suicidal thoughts and actions, such as cutting. They also engage in a lot of unsafe and impulsive behaviors including huge spending sprees, unsafe sexual intercourse, substance abuse, reckless driving, and binge eating. All of these behaviors are very dangerous and they don’t think twice about doing them, they just do it. They will often not know how to control their intense anger and be very paranoid. Dissociative symptoms

Sometimes, people are diagnosed with BD with only a history of manic episodes, but typically they experience both manic and depressive episodes. Depressive episodes are defined as 5 or more of the following symptoms present for at least 2 weeks: “depressed mood most of the day, markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all or most daily activities, significant weight loss or increase or decrease in appetite, insomnia or hypersomnia, psychomotor

Borderline personality disorder is a mental illness marked by a pattern of emotional instability, impulsive behavior, distorted self-image, and unstable relationships.

With BPD there are often extremes in beliefs and views, such as all good or all bad. People with BPD are can be uncertain about whom they truly are as a person. With no self sense, interests and values may conflict as well as change rapidly. Their views of others may also change quickly. One day a certain person may be admired. The next day that same person may be despised or hated. Suddenly shifting feelings often foster relationships that are unstable and intense. There are numerous other identifiable traits someone with BPD may display. Some of these symptoms may include fear abandonment, feelings of emptiness and boredom, frequent displays of inappropriate anger, destructive impulsiveness, intolerance of being alone, as well as repeated self crises (i.e. self injury).

Neurological imaging studies propose that individuals with BPD possess an overactive amygdala where emotions are processed, and decreased activity in the pre-frontal cortex that regulates those emotions (Pier, Marin, Wilsnack & Goodman, 2016). Causation is not known but correlations include inheritability, childhood trauma and other social and environmental factors (NIMH, 2017). Mental Health Canada (2017) state “BPD results from a combination of individual vulnerability to environmental stress, neglect or abuse as young children, and a series of events that trigger the onset of the disorder as young adults” (p. 1).

Some of the symptoms include anger, stormy relationships, thoughts of suicide and self-harm, chronic loneliness, and impulsivity in reckless behaviors (About BPD). In one study, a patient named Natasha displayed many of the symptoms listed above. She claimed she was always tired, having an affair with her employer, and suffered much emotional distress in her marriage (Widiger 93). At first, Natasha’s psychiatrist assumed that she was dealing with loneliness, anxiety, and sadness, but then realized that she most likely had Borderline Personality disorder and was dealing with a rough, “unresolved” childhood (Beck 187). The National Alliance on Mental Illness says that this disorder is fairly common, appearing in 1 in 20-25 people (Beck 188).

Three “clusters” categorize personality disorders; Cluster A, Cluster B, and Cluster C. Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) falls into Cluster B. Cluster B consists of dramatic, emotional, and erratic disorders. Females and males and almost equally diagnosed with this personality disorder. BPD doesn’t favor one gender over the other because both males and females, struggle with aspects in this cluster equally. Borderline Personality Disorder focuses on the instability self-image, relationships, impulses, and the consequences.

When there is an imbalance it impacts how the individual with BPD perceives the world. Furthermore, symptoms of depression and feelings of loneliness are correlated with the dysregulation of systems that regulate arousal, mood, well-being, and reward (Bohus et al., 2004). BPD is associated with abnormal functioning of neurotransmitters, such as: serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine (Bohus et al., 2004; Cozolino, 2014). There’s too little dopamine being released that’s necessary to find pleasure in everyday activity, and the intense anger and rage comes from an overactive serotonin or norepinephrine neurotransmitter (Cozolino, 2014). Similarly, these neurotransmitters influence other emotional dysregulation that cause impulsivity, self-harming behaviors, and difficulty relating with others (Cozolino, 2014). Irritability and self-harming behaviors have been associated with a damaged frontal cortex (Bohus et al., 2004). The frontal cortex is the part of the brain that puts breaks on emotions; therefore damage to the prefrontal cortex leads to hypersensitivity that influences sexuality, aggression, and self mutilation (Bohus et al., 2004; Cozolino,