Borderline Personality Disorder Insight and Awareness
What is Borderline personality disorder?
Borderline personality disorder is a mental health condition that severely impacts a person’s ability to manage their emotions. This loss of emotional control, emotional dysregulation, can increase impulsivity, affect how a person feels about themselves, and negatively impact their relationships with others.
What are the signs and symptoms of BPD?
People with borderline personality disorder may experience intense mood swings and feel uncertainty about who they are. Their feelings for others can change quickly, and swing from extreme closeness to extreme dislike.
People with borderline personality disorder also tend to view things in extremes, such as all good or all bad. Their interests and values can change quickly, and they may act impulsively or recklessly.
In addition the American Psychiatric Association establishes the following nine criteria in their diagnositc and statistical manual for a diagnosis of BPD. (5 of the 9 symptoms must be present)
1. Fear of abandonment
2. Unstable or changing relationships
3. Unstable self-image; struggles with identity or sense of self
4. Impulsive or self-damaging behaviors (e.g., excessive spending, unsafe sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, binge eating).
5. Suicidal behavior or self-injury
6. Varied or random mood swings
7. Constant feelings of worthlessness or sadness
8. Problems with anger, including frequent loss of temper or physical fights
9. Stress-related paranoia or loss of contact with reality
What causes Borderline personality disorder?
Feature BPD APP
Doctor Spielberg discusses the origin of the term borderline. He describes some of the strategies he teaches his clients with BPD that have been successful in helping them live healthier lives. These strategies include "benign interpretation", "The 10 to 8 Rule", and "The no drug and alcohol rule."
The BPD Insight and Awareness App
Doctor Spielberg discusses the stigma associated with BPD. He describes some of the comorbid conditions that often accompany BPD. Spielberg characterizes high functioning BPD as "relationship anxiety". He concludes by describing the early childhood environment that he sees among so many of his clients with BPD.