What is Borderline Personality Disorder?
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a serious mental health condition. It's marked by an instability of self-image, interpersonal relating and strong emotions that can be destructive. People with this disorder typically view the world in terms of black or white, as all good or all bad, and their views can swing rapidly from one extreme to another depending on the circumstances. Suffering from BPD causes a great deal of distress and significantly increases the risk of suicide; 80% will attempt it in their lifetime, and 10% will die by taking their own life - making this 50 times greater than the national average for suicide attempts.
Signs & Symptoms
The most common symptoms associated with BPD include intense emotional outbursts, rapid mood swings, intense anger or fear, feeling empty, impulsiveness and self-harming behaviours such as cutting. Other signs may include suicidal ideation, chronic feelings of boredom or loneliness, difficulty controlling urges or impulses, a fear of abandonment and unstable relationships with family members and others close to them.
Causes
The exact cause of BPD is not yet known but multiple factors are believed to play a role such as traumatic events in childhood like abuse or neglect. Biological factors related to genetics also appear to play a part in how susceptible people are to developing BPD.
Treatment
Though there is no cure for BPD and it cannot be treated with medication alone there are various forms of therapy available that can help manage symptoms and help to prevent further episodes with regards to acute crisis management. As well offering therapeutic services tailored specifically for individuals with borderline personality disorder therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT), psychodynamic psychotherapy (PPT) have been found effective at helping clients understand why they feel the way they do often resulting in them feeling better equipped to manage their emotions when future episodes arise.
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