Borderline personality disorder often occurs with other mental illnesses, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These co-occurring disorders can make it harder to diagnose and treat borderline personality disorder, especially if symptoms of other illnesses overlap with symptoms of the disorder.
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Symptoms of borderline personality disorder include: Opinions of other people can change quickly, leading to intense and unstable relationships A pattern of intense and unstable relationships, vacillating from extreme closeness and love (idealization) to extreme dislike or anger (devaluation)
Someone who has BPD will have at least five of the following symptoms present: Extreme fear of real or imagined abadonment Persistent feelings of emptiness and/or boredom Self-damaging impulsivity Inappropriate anger Instability in personal relationships, which swings between idealization and devaluation
by Kevin Dawkins | Sep 1, 2019. It has been said that Borderline Personality Disorder is one of the most stigmatized of all mental health conditions. People with BPD experience strong bias not only in the public arena but among mental health professionals as well/.
Borderline personality disorder ( BPD ), also known as emotionally unstable personality disorder ( EUPD) or borderline pattern personality disorder is a personality disorder characterized by a long-term pattern of unstable interpersonal relationships, distorted sense of self, and strong emotional reactions.
The term "borderline personality disorder" was coined in American psychiatry in the 1960s. It became the preferred term over a number of competing names, such as "emotionally unstable character disorder" and "borderline schizophrenia" during the 1970s.
People with BPD may feel emotions with greater ease and depth and for a longer time than others do. A core characteristic of BPD is affective instability, which generally manifests as unusually intense emotional responses to environmental triggers, with a slower return to a baseline emotional state. According to Marsha Linehan, the sensitivity, intensity, and duration with which people with BPD feel emotions have both positive and negative effects. People with BPD are often exceptionally enthusiastic, idealistic, joyful, and loving, but may feel overwhelmed by negative emotions (anxiety, depression, guilt/shame, worry, anger, etc.), experiencing intense grief instead of sadness, shame and humiliation instead of mild embarrassment, rage instead of annoyance, and panic instead of nervousness. BPD is believed to be the one psychiatric disorder that produces the most intense psychological pain and distress in those who suffer with this condition. Studies have shown that borderline patients experience chronic and significant emotional suffering and mental agony.
People with BPD may be misdiagnosed for a variety of reasons. One reason for misdiagnosis is BPD has symptoms that coexist ( comorbidity) with other disorders such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and bipolar disorder.
Valerie Porr, president of Treatment and Research Advancement Association for Personality Disorders states that "the name BPD is confusing, imparts no relevant or descriptive information, and reinforces existing stigma".
The disorder appears to become less common among older people. Up to half of those with BPD improve over a ten-year period. Those affected typically use a high amount of healthcare resources. There is an ongoing debate about the naming of the disorder, especially the suitability of the word borderline.
The heritability of BPD is estimated to be between 37% to 69% . That is, 37% to 69% of the variability in liability underlying BPD in the population can be explained by genetic differences. Twin studies may overestimate the effect of genes on variability in personality disorders due to the complicating factor of a shared family environment. Even so, the researchers of one study concluded that personality disorders "seem to be more strongly influenced by genetic effects than almost any Axis I disorder [e.g., depression, eating disorders ], and more than most broad personality dimensions". Moreover, the study found that BPD was estimated to be the third most-heritable personality disorder out of the 10 personality disorders reviewed. Twin, sibling, and other family studies indicate partial heritability for impulsive aggression, but studies of serotonin -related genes have suggested only modest contributions to behavior.