It’s estimated that at least one in a hundred people have borderline personality disorder or BPD In this video, we’ll talk about what it’s like to have the disorder as well as how people can recover from it
Here are some of the issues people with BPD face Significant difficulty controlling and regulating emotions, otherwise known as emotional lability Uncertainty of self what psychiatrists call an unstable self-image having intense and unstable relationships repeatedly, which can involve Idealizing people then intensely disliking or devaluing them in relatively short intervals
Feeling an urgent need to avoid being abandoned by other people, even if the abandonment is only imagined A chronic feeling of emptiness Repeatedly acting in impulsive and risky ways. As you can see it’s a picture of instability To add to these challenges BPD is currently under recognized. So the availability of specific services is limited the reason may include the Ongoing social stigma of mental health conditions Or the challenges that health professionals face in treating BPD It is quite possible to treat it but more on that later
Imagine a good friend of yours has BPD you tell them something about your new partner and they react ferociously If you’ve been hurt by them in one of their more severe episodes of instability you might struggle to feel empathy towards them But it’s important not to blame the person in such situations. It’s not their fault after all
So what is the cause of BPD? Well, it isn’t fully understood. Currently a combination of biological factors and early life experiences such as trauma Is thought to contribute to the development of BPD In diagnosis, psychiatrists attempt to observe a pattern of these features mentioned before
These must be considered inflexible Pervasive Long-standing And must lead to clinically significant distress or impairment In terms of recovery The best treatment results have been shown with a branch of psychological counseling Known as dialectical behavioral therapy Dialectical means concerned with opposing forces which here acceptance and change
Think of some of the challenges mentioned earlier then consider how that might affect a relationship between a health professional and a person with BPD It’s important to engage clinicians who have thorough experience and understanding of this condition Given that the maintenance of a strong therapeutic relationship is integral to positive outcomes
It may take several goes But strong improvements are possible In this video I’ve tried to show the challenge and complexity of living with, as well as treating BPD A recent Australian Senate committee stated that an into marginalization of this disorder within the community and the mental health sector is urgently needed And we’ll leave it on that note See you next time
