Symptoms of BPD
- Mood swings
- Periods of intense depression, irritability, and/or anxiety lasting from a few hours to a few days
- Inappropriate, intense or uncontrolled anger
- Impulsiveness in spending, sex, substance use, shoplifting, reckless driving, or binge eating
- Recurring suicidal threats or self-injurious behavior
- Unstable, intense personal relationships
- Extreme black-and-white views of people and experiences, sometimes alternating between “all good” idealization and “all bad” devaluation
- Persistent uncertainly about self-image, long-term goals, friendships and values
- Chronic boredom or feelings of emptiness
- Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment
Treatment for BPD
Medication
- Reduces anxiety, depression and impulsivity
- Helps one deal with harmful patterns of thinking and interacting
- Fails to correct ingrained character difficulties
- Antidepressants
- Anticonvulsants
- Neuroleptics
Psychotherapy
Short-term hospitalization when necessary during times of extreme stress, impulsivity or substance abuse
- Generally difficult and long term
- BPD symptoms often interfere with therapy
- Usually effective
What is BPD?
- Fairly common biologically based disorder
- Characterized by impulsivity and instability in mood, self-image and personal relationships
- Diagnosed more often in females than in males
Causes of BPD
- Unclear, but psychological and biological factors may be involved
- Originally thought to border on schizophrenia
- Related to serious depressive illness
- Associated with neurological and attention deficit disorders
- Difficulties in psychological development during childhood due to such things as abuse or neglect may create identity and personality problems
- More research is needed
Simultaneously present disorders
- Serious depressive illness, including bipolar disorder
- Eating disorders
- Alcohol/drug abuse
- Sleep disorder
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