Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD): 7 Symptoms To Identify This Serious Mental Disorder
What is Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), also known as borderline or borderline? Discover the causes, symptoms and the best treatment for this disorder.
People who suffer from borderline personality disorder (BPD), also known as borderline or borderline disorder, usually feel a lack of control in both their emotions and their moods and behaviors. These personality disorders are serious because of everything they entail. In fact, many people who suffer from all the symptoms of BPD may engage in self-destructive or impulsive behavior to cope with the changing emotions of this disorder.
Another implication of borderline personality disorder It is the difficulty of maintaining relationships with others. This happens since those who suffer from BPD can come to be considered ‘intense people’ by others due to the constant emotional and sentimental changes that they usually suffer. For example, someone with borderline personality disorder may consider a friend the most perfect person in the world and the next day decide that he is her/his worst enemy.
In general terms, these are some of the facets of the borderline personality disorder Even if you are a person with this serious mental disorder, it is important to highlight the fact that it is currently considered a treatable condition. Therefore, many ‘borderline’ people are able to lead happy and productive lives.
When a person suffers from personality disorders Their way of thinking, feeling and behaving is usually affected, which interferes very significantly in many areas of the affected person’s life. This way of interpreting life and acting in the world is inflexible and maladaptive, which is why it causes serious problems for both the person who suffers from it and those who live with them. So, what is a person with borderline personality disorder like?
He Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) also known as borderline by its English name (Borderline Personality Disorder or BDP), falls within group B of personality disorders, also called “dramatic or impulsive”, and is characterized by an instability of self-image and impulsive behavior with frequent emotional changes.
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a serious mental disorder which is characterized by unstable moods and emotions, relationships and behavior. It is one of several personality disorders recognized by the American Psychiatric Association (APA).
Also known as ‘borderline disorder ‘It is usually a psychological affectation that begins in adolescence or early adulthood. If BPD and its symptoms are not treated, it can cause great distress in people who suffer from it.
People who suffer from this borderline disorder may cause self-harm and have suicidal thoughts due to the emotional instability to which they are subjected very frequently. For this reason, it is important to recognize this disorder and address it as soon as possible with a mental health professional.
BPD and its symptoms: What is a person with borderline personality disorder like?
Between his symptoms They are found, according to the DSM-IV manual:
Fear of abandonment: Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment. Impulsive acts are common in people who suffer from these personality disorders. In fact, the TLP It can lead to suicidal behavior, due to the intolerance they feel towards being alone.
Unstable relationships: People with a borderline personality They usually have a pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation. They experience changes regarding the opinions of others, depending on whether they consider them as beneficial or bad influences on themselves.
Identity alteration: marked and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self. The people with the borderline disorder They present problems when defining themselves, since they present frequent changes in their opinions, values ​​and objectives. Physical image is also very important, which is why eating problems are common.
Impulsiveness: He TLP It also causes people to engage in impulsive behaviors in at least two areas that are potentially harmful to the self (e.g., spending, sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, binge eating).
Self-harm and suicidal thoughts: BPD is considered a serious mental disorder because it involves recurrent suicidal behavior, attempts or threats, as well as self-harm.
Emotional instability: He Borderline personality disorder It also involves affective instability due to notable mood reactivity (e.g., episodes of intense discomfort, irritability or anxiety, which usually last a few hours and rarely a few days).
Chronic feelings of emptiness: Frequently people with a borderline disorder They do not find meaning in life since they experience an emotional void that does not seem to be able to be filled with anything.
inappropriate anger and intense or difficulties controlling anger: (e.g., frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurring physical fights). Subsequently, they blame themselves for not being able to control these episodes and reinforce the poor image they have of themselves.
Paranoia: Transient paranoid ideation related to extreme stress.
He Borderline personality disorder It is more common than we can imagine. It is estimated that it represents approximately 10% of health consultations and around 15-20% of hospitalized patients. It seems to affect 2% of the population, being three times more common in women than in men.
Borderline personality disorder DSM-5 criteria
This personality disorder is often misdiagnosed as some of the disorders with which it shares characteristics. This could be one of the reasons why for so many years, borderline personality disorder has been underdiagnosed and why, until just a few years ago, there were not enough scientific studies on it.
The differential diagnosis should be made with the psychotic disorders ; mood disorders (depression, bipolar disorder and dysthymia); post-traumatic stress disorder; other personality disorders; and with symptoms that may appear due to substance use or medical illnesses. All of them present differential characteristics, which after carrying out an adequate and complete evaluation, allow a correct diagnosis of the problem.
BPD frequently occurs with other disorders, which in many cases, hinders correct diagnosis and, therefore, his intervention. Borderline personality disorder usually occurs in association with mood disorders, anxiety disorders, drug abuse, eating disorders, or even other personality disorders.
In this way, for a person to be diagnosed with Borderline personality disorder You must meet five or more of the following criteria established in the DSM-V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual).
Intense fear of abandonment that leads to taking frantic or extreme measures to avoid feeling or being abandoned.
Continually engaging in unstable, intense relationships and experiencing extreme changes and feelings toward people (such as switching between loving and hating someone)
Uncertain and unstable self-image or sense of self
Engaging in at least two types of impulsive behaviors or activities that may be harmful to oneself (such as reckless spending, unprotected sex, substance abuse, binge eating)
Repeated threats of suicide, suicide attempts, or self-harm.
Severe mood swings (such as a period of depression, anxiety, and irritability that lasts a few hours to a few days)
Difficulty keeping anger under control and sudden, inappropriate, intense episodes of anger or aggression without cause.
Feeling paranoid or dissociated from the world and oneself in stressful situations.
The great variety of symptoms and criteria to identify the borderline personality disorder in the DSM-5 It is an example of how these personality disorders can appear very different from one case to another.
As in the vast majority of psychological disorders, the exact cause that can cause it is unknown. the TLP Despite this, there is research that suggests that it is due to a mix of genetic and environmental causes (upbringing). Factors that may increase the risk of suffering from borderline personality disorder are the following.
Brain structure: There is evidence that suggests that the structure and function of the brain of people with BPD have differences with respect to those parts of the brain that affect impulse control and emotional regulation.
Family background: Having a family member with BPD can also increase the risk of developing the condition.
Negative experiences: Many people diagnosed with BPD have experienced childhood abuse, trauma, or neglect. However, not everyone with BPD had one of these experiences in childhood, and conversely, many people who have had them do not develop personality disorders.
Borderline Personality Disorder and its treatment
In the therapeutic intervention of BPD it is important that a comprehensive approach to the disorder and the associated comorbidities, since otherwise we would be ignoring part of the problem. Due to the complexity of its approach, the treatment of this disorder and its comorbidities must be carried out through combined medical and psychological treatment.
Psychotherapy associated with appropriate medication is the basis for good control of this process. He Pharmacotherapy It can be diverse depending on the type of comorbidity that the person presents, whether mood disorders, anxiety, substance abuse, etc… and must therefore be an individualized treatment.
In psychological intervention, it is essential to carry out a careful evaluation and establish a precise diagnosis that leads us to detect which are the most problematic areas that must be addressed initially. For the patient and the development of the therapy, it is very useful to establish short-term objectives, the achievement of which will help improve the evolution of the process always maintaining the ability to support the patient in their evolution throughout the different phases of therapy.
Between the goals Proposed in the treatment of this type of disorder are increasing self-esteem; control impulsivity and anger; combat suicidal ideation and self-harm; enhance emotional independence; stress management training; and improve social skills.
