What is BPD?
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a mental illness characterized by difficulty trying to control one's emotions. This implies that people with BPD feel intense emotions for an extended period of time, and it is much more challenging for them to return to a stable baseline after an emotionally triggering event.
This challenge can lead to impulsive behavior, a negative self-image, tumultuous relationships, and strong emotional reactions to stress factors. Having a hard time dealing with self-regulation can lead to dangerous activities, such as self-harm.
Symptoms
People with BPD have severe mood swings and a strong sense of instability and insecurity. Some key signs and symptoms, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Diagnostic framework, may include:
1. Hectic attempts to prevent real or imagined abandonment by relatives and friends;
2. Unsteady interpersonal relations, oscillating between idealization ("I'm so in love!") and devaluation ("I hate her"). Altered and unstable self-image, which also influences emotions, principles, viewpoints, targets, and relationships;
3. Reckless spending, risky physical intimacy, careless driving, or addictions or overuse are illustrations of impulsive behaviors that can have serious repercussions;
4. Suicide-related threats, as well as self-harming behavior;
5. Periods of depressive moods, mood swings, or anxiety that last between a few hours or days;
6. Feelings of boredom or emptiness regularly;
7. Improper, intense, or unmanageable anger, frequently accompanied by feelings of shame;
8. Dissociative feelings (take place when you are detached from your feelings or sense of self, or when you feel "out of the body").
Causes
The contributing factors of BPD are unknown, but experts agree that it is triggered by a mixture of aspects, such as:
Genetic factors. While no particular gene or gene characteristics have been shown to induce BPD, evidence indicates that people that have a close relative with the disorder could be at an increased risk of developing it.
Environmental considerations. Individuals who have suffered traumatic life events, such as physical abuse as a child, or neglect and parental conflict, are more prone to developing BPD.
Brain activity. The emotional regulation system in people with BPD could be different, suggesting that a few of the symptoms have a neurological basis.
Treatment
A successful treatment strategy should take into account one’s personal tastes while also addressing any other co-existing conditions. Psychotherapy, medications, and group, peer, and family support are all examples of treatment options. The overall aim of treatment is for an individual with BPD to become more self-directed in their treatment protocol as they find out what works and what isn't.
The very first treatment option for BPD is psychotherapy, such as dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), and psychodynamic psychotherapy.
Medications can help with a medication regimen. However, there is no standard medication that is particularly intended to treat the fundamental symptoms of BPD. Instead, a wide range of medicines can also be used off-label to treat a wide variety of symptoms. Mood stabilizers and antidepressant medications, for example, can help with mood changes and dysmorphia. Limited antipsychotic medication may also assist individuals to regulate symptoms like poorly organized thinking.
BPD is quite a challenge for everyone – including researchers and psychologists. No one really knows the cause of this mental illness for sure, it can be different for anybody. It is, indeed, a very difficult mental disease and it causes a lot of damage for the one having it & people around that person.
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