BPD (borderline personality disorder) is a mental illness characterized by unstable moods and behaviors. People who have BPD usually have symptoms that begin in adolescence or young adulthood.
BPD Symptoms
Symptoms of BPD include:
- Extreme and sudden mood changes, such as sudden rage, sadness, or emptiness
- Inability to think clearly or logically or self-soothe when overwhelmed with emotion, resulting in extreme emotional reactions to frustrations and stressors
- Impulsiveness
- Difficulty perceiving themselves as unique
- Having an unstable or distorted self-image
- Having poor boundaries between self and others
- May make suicidal threats and self-harm
- If you or someone you know are in crisis, call the toll-free National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The service is available to anyone. All calls are confidential. http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org
- Angry behavior or violence with self or others
- Inability to pursue meaningful short-term goals with satisfaction
- Unstable functioning in affect and mood
- Trouble distinguishing reality from their inner thoughts and feelings
- Instability in relationships with family and friends
- Problems with empathy and intimacy
- Risk-taking behaviors such as illegal drug use, unsafe sex, spending sprees, and reckless driving
How Is BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder) Diagnosed?
BPD (borderline personality disorder) diagnosis is based on The American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) criteria of a pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity as is shown by at five or more of the following:
- Desperate efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment
- A pattern of unstable and intense relationships that alternate between extremes of idealization and devaluation
- Unstable self-image or sense of self
- Impulsivity in at least two areas that could cause self-harm (such as substance abuse, unsafe sex, reckless driving, binge eating)
- Recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, threats, or self-mutilation
- Sudden changes in mood, usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days
- Prolonged feelings of emptiness
- Inappropriate, intense anger or problems controlling anger
- Temporary stress-related paranoid thoughts or severe dissociative symptoms
What Is the Treatment for BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder)?
BPD (borderline personality disorder) can be difficult to treat. Psychotherapeutic intervention is the mainstay of treatment, but other psychiatric symptoms, such as anxiety, depression, and transient psychosis may be present that can be treated with medications.
Therapies used to treat BPD include:
- Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) uses cognitive-behavioral techniques and is currently the only data-supported treatment for BPD
- Family-oriented interventions may provide benefits for children and adolescents
- Structured day programs may also benefit children and adolescents BPD traits
- Psychotherapy can be difficult because overwhelming affect, impulsive behavior, and regression often occurs
- Hospitalization may be needed in cases of suicidal or self-harm behaviors
Medications used to treat symptoms of BPD may include:
- Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants to reduce impulsivity and aggression
- Low-dose antipsychotic agents for short-term management of temporary psychotic symptoms and to help reduce agitation
- Opiate receptor antagonists to shorten the duration and intensity of dissociative symptoms
- Naltrexone (ReVia, Vivitrol, Depade)
Benzodiazepines are not prescribed for patients with BPD because they reduce inhibitions and can increase impulsiveness.
Drugs must be prescribed to patients with BPD with caution because overdose on prescribed medications happens frequently.
Health Solutions From Our Sponsors
