Borderline Personality Disorder: “Fearing Rejection, Craving Affection and Dreaming of Perfection”

People’s personalities take many shapes and forms. Therefore, diagnosing a personality disorder is challenging and requires ample experience and knowledge in the subject.

Professionals put personality on a continuum from functional to dysfunctional, as drawing a line might lead to some inaccuracies

In general, a personality disorder is a chronic pattern of thinking, feeling, and behaving that hinders a person’s ability to strive in their environment. It often manifests in early adulthood.

Personality disorders are categorized into three groups or clusters: odd-eccentric personality disorders, dramatic-emotional personality disorders, and anxious-fearful personality disorders.

Going more in-depth into the cluster B dramatic-emotional personality disorders, we encounter four kinds of disorders associated with being unpredictable, dramatic, and uncaring in social relationships.

Borderline personality disorder is part of Cluster B’s personality disorders

Borderline personality disorder is characterized by unstable self-concept, emotional dysregulation, and unsteady social relationships. People with borderline personality disorder are incredibly susceptible to abandonment and generally interpret situations in a negatively biased fashion. Some other common symptoms of borderline personality disorder include impulsivity and suicidal behaviors. People with borderline personality disorder might engage in promiscuous behavior, overspending, self-harm, or even reckless driving.

People diagnosed with this disorder are also often diagnosed with another mental disorder, such as depression, GAD, PTSD, or even substance abuse

There is a profound confusion on the difference between borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder as many of their symptoms overlap. Nevertheless, these two disorders have different causes, symptoms, and treatments.

Most generally, unlike bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder is associated with unstable personal relationships.  And unlike borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder is associated with periods of manic episodes and other periods of depressive episodes.

Borderline personality disorder is often a result of a combination of genetics and environmental factors. Some of the causes of this disorder are abuse and trauma in the early years. Emotional, physical, or sexual abuse increase the risk of developing this disorder. Developing borderline personality disorder is often a way of coping with the hurt of the past. Moreover, the tendency to develop this personality disorder is highly hereditary. In this case, the environmental circumstances would contribute to the risk of developing the disorder. Lastly, diving more into biology, brain abnormalities might heighten the risk of getting diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. The parts of the brain related to the regulation of emotions, self-control, and decision-making are all affected in BPD.

When it comes to treating BPD, a combination of psychotherapy and medication is recommended. Dialectical behavior therapy helps the patient in gaining a better understanding of themselves while also teaching them adaptive skills and fixing any dichotomous thinking patterns.  Cognitive-behavioral therapy challenges the patient’s unfit beliefs, and in turn, helps the patient function in daily life. And lastly, medication, such as mood stabilizers, atypical antipsychotics, and antidepressants, can help regulate mood swings, impulsive behavior and treat any anxiety or depressive symptoms.

References:

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD): Symptoms, Treatment, Causes. (n.d.). Retrieved from [here].

Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5. (2017). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association.

Nea.bpd. (2014, February 01). BPD OVERVIEW. Retrieved from [here].

 Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Marroquin, B. (2020). Abnormal psychology. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

Personality Disorders: Types, Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment. (n.d.). Retrieved from [here].

What causes personality disorders? (n.d.). Retrieved from [here].