Borderline Personality Disorder Treatment

Have you often found yourself at odds with others because of things you’ve done or said, and have a hard time managing your relationships, or difficulties at work as a result? Do you have a hard time controlling your emotions and outbursts, and have felt inappropriate bursts of anger or sadness at random intervals? If these symptoms have been a debilitating and consistent part of your life for some time now, then they may be the signs of a personality disorder, such as borderline personality disorder (BPD).

Borderline personality disorder is one of ten identified personality disorders as characterized by the DSM-V, and one of the most common ones as well.

Most cases of borderline personality disorder begin in the early stages of adulthood, and symptoms are usually at their most severe at this stage. With time, people diagnosed with BPD learn to cope with their symptoms and improve their impulsivity and behavioral problems.

However, bipolar personality disorder treatment can help you avoid decades of frustration, and guide you toward helpful coping skills for unwanted or intrusive thoughts and impulses.

Here at Amend Treatment, we offer a multitude of therapeutic modalities and BPD treatment methods to help clients learn how to control their behavior, improve their relationships, and make meaningful progress toward leading a normal and fulfilling social life. Contact us at (833) 912-6363 to learn more about our borderline personality disorder treatments at Amend Treatment.

Overview

Borderline personality disorder is a mental disorder that is primarily characterized by unstable behavioral patterns, lack of emotional regulation, and intrusive thoughts. These instabilities and behavioral issues can greatly impact a person’s self-esteem and destabilize their relationships with others.

People with borderline personality disorder may struggle to form meaningful or long-lasting bonds with people outside of their immediate family and can struggle in many other social circumstances as a result of their unpredictable behavior, unstable mood, and general detachment from reality.

About one in ten people diagnosed with borderline personality disorder may die by suicide, and people with BPD are at a dramatically increased risk of major depressive disorder, substance use disorder, and eating disorders. Current research indicates that BPD is still underdiagnosed.

Borderline personality disorder has a long history as an identified mental health issue, albeit under different names and concepts.

At times associated with bipolar disorder, cyclothymia, schizophrenia, and identity disorders, BPD was eventually distinguished as its own condition and personality disorder in the 1980s. While it shares some similarities with these other mental health conditions, it is separate in its diagnosis from psychotic disorders (like schizophrenia) and mood disorders (like bipolar disorder).

Symptoms

The signs and symptoms of borderline personality disorder can be split into behavioral signs, emotional symptoms, and social indications.

Behavioral Signs

The behavioral signs of borderline personality disorder include:

• Inappropriate or inexplicable outbursts of anger.
• Stress-related paranoia and dissociation, becoming detached from reality temporarily.
• Suicidal attempts or recurring self-harm.
• Impulsive behavior, especially high-risk behavior (such as substance use, unprotected sex, reckless driving, uncontrolled spending, etc.)
• Wildly fluctuating behavior in relationships, shifting between emotional extremes towards oneself and one’s partner.
• Inappropriate or desperate behavior to avoid abandonment, whether real or imagined.

Emotional Signs

Emotional signs of borderline personality disorder include:

• Fluctuating self-image.
• Emotional irregularity, and inability to control or manage one’s feelings.
• Chronic feelings of fatigue, meaninglessness, and emptiness.
• Signs of a recurring identity crisis, from shifting core values and ethics to fluid and chaotic concepts of self.
• Stress-related psychotic episodes, derealization, depersonalization, paranoia, and severe suffering.
• More prone towards feeling sad or empty than happy. Moments of joy might be undercut by mania or severe unease.

Social Signs

Social signs of borderline personality disorder may include:

• Unstable relationships.
• Paranoia within relationships and friendships.
• Feelings of victimization.
• Feeling betrayed by others.
• Higher likelihood of chronic conflict and domestic abuse in relationships
• Attachment issues, including problematic behavior to avoid abandonment.
• Alienating others with emotional outbursts.
• Difficulties maintaining employment due to emotional and behavioral symptoms.
• Higher risk of unwanted pregnancy.

In addition to all these potential signs and symptoms, individuals with BPD can also struggle with cognitive tasks and are more likely to struggle with long-term decision-making, risk assessment, concentration, motivation, and self-control.

It’s important to note that not all cases of BPD are equally severe – some are severe enough to cause serious disability, while others are milder, meaning people can go to work and hold a job but may be more likely to struggle interpersonally or keep relationships while under stress and tension.

 

Causes

The causes of borderline personality disorder, like most personality disorders, are largely genetic. There are certain genes predisposing a person towards a personality disorder like BPD. We also know that personality disorders in general are much more strongly correlated with genetic factors, more so than conditions like eating disorders and depression.

Environmental risk factors also play a strong role. Adults with BPD are more likely to have experienced trauma or abuse growing up, and there is even some research linking BPD to PTSD.

More research into the neurological causes of BPD and other personality disorders is needed, as well as mediating or protective factors, such as a positive family environment.

 

Borderline Personality Disorder Treatment

The core of borderline personality disorder treatment is behavioral therapy, which aims to help people regain better control over their impulses and translate behavioral improvements into improvements in thought and emotional regulation.

Through in-depth exercises, thorough one-on-one sessions, and a long-term treatment plan, behavioral therapy can help people with BPD learn to suppress impulsive behavior, minimize intrusive feelings, and concentrate on positive thoughts and emotions over negativity and self-deprecation. These tools are also crucial in helping improve communication skills and improve clients’ ability to manage themselves in a relationship.

Most BPD symptoms become less severe over time – but learning to put proper BPD treatment techniques to use early on can give young adults a better shot at using their time and energy to cultivate meaningful relationships, create strong support systems, and seek greater career opportunities, despite their condition. Don’t let BPD hold you back. Contact us at Amend Treatment at (833) 912-6363 to learn more about our borderline personality disorder treatment program.