Borderline Personality Disorder
What is Borderline Personality Disorder?
Virginia J. Duffy PhD, NP-Psychiatry
Borderline personality disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis
that is included in the personality disorder section of the DSM IV (the 4th
ed. of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual), which lists the criteria for
all psychiatric diagnoses.
Have you ever wondered about the term borderline?
Stern first used it in 1938. In 1953 Knight noted it was
being used to describe a condition that was thought to be on the border
between psychotic and neurotic disorders. Neurotic was an old term
previously used in psychiatry. Persons who were considered neurotic had
psychological difficulties but did not exhibit psychotic symptoms such as
delusions or hallucinations. The term psychotic is defined as being out of
touch with reality, that is, the inability to distinguish internal from
external stimuli.
Because persons with this newly recognized syndrome could
at times look almost psychotic the term borderline came into being. Some
symptoms of BPD, including hysteria, dramatization, rage and poor impulse
control can appear to be psychotic. Under stress persons who suffer with
severe BPD can experience dissociation, a psychotic like symptom of
separating mind and emotions from the body.
What are the symptoms of BPD ?
Seventy five percent of those diagnosed with BPD are women. 60% of persons
with BPD experience a major depression at sometime in their lives, and
another 50% have a serious substance abuse problem.
It is important to realize that this diagnosis is controversial and not
always reliable. There can be a significant amount of disagreement about it.
It is sometimes used in a pejorative manner.
One of the things you will find out about this writer is that I am not a fan
of “labels”. I always encourage people to look at symptoms and behaviors and
deal with them as best they can. We will talk more about this as time goes
on and I would also like to hear from you about your feeling about that
issue.
Some of the symptoms that are seen in persons with BPD include.
• Easily depressed
• Bored
• Self-destructive
• Impulsive behavior
• Hypersensitive to loss
• Suicide threats
• Idealization vs rejection of others (you are all good or all bad)
• Potential for temporary psychosis
• Instability of mood, behavior, relationships, self-image
• Difficulty being alone
• Unreasonable demands
• Hypochondriacs complaint
• Provocative behavior
• Anger
• Quick to take offense
As you can see from this brief overview, BPD is a serious mental health
problem causing chaos and turmoil in the lives of those who struggle with it
and those who care about them. See other articles about BPD.
Sources
Defining Borderline Patients: An Overview. (1975) American Journal of
Psychiatry. Jan. 132:1, 1-10
DSM IV, (1994) American Psychiatric Association
This site is
entirely funded by Dr. Duffy Please send any email correspondence
to:
|
