Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)

[meeko]

Borderline Personality Disorder is also called BPD not to be confused with bp which is bipolar disorder. Though the two have some overlapping symptoms the disorders are quite different.

The simplest way I have found over the years to describe BPD to others is by using the PRAISE method.

P - paranoid ideas
R - relationship instability
A - angry outbursts, affective instability, abandonment fears
I - impulsive behaviour, identity disturbance
S - suicidal behavior, self injury
E - emptiness

So, basically when you break it down, a person who has borderline personality disorder is one who experiences a number of these things, though not always all of them. When you look at the symptoms a BPD patient suffers from it may include these things:

fear of abandonment and the attempt to avoid being abandoned at all costs-which does backfire on them
unstable relationships- best described as "I hate you, Don't leave me" <=a good book to read
Not knowing who they are, lacking self identity
doing reckless and risky things not including self injury
self injury
very highly unstable emotions...ok one second super angry the next hurt and crying another moment
feeling hollow or empty... and there's nothing to fill the void... so we try to fill it with people or reckless behaviours, or anything...
some are easily prone to anger... flashes of red hot rage just turn on without warning
short-term flights from reality or 'baby psychotic breaks'

Many who suffer BPD have problems controlling their impulses. It's not an excuse for doing bad things... but when impulses aren't controlled many bad outcomes result. Having extreme thoughts and reactions is also common to people who have BPD. So, for example... I had a friend who said, I'm sick. I thought she hated me(extreme thought), so I went to her apartment (impulse), and got angry (she was healthy) and got scared (feared she was ending our friendship-abandoning me). So, although I can pick apart what I did now... when someone with BPD is in the moment and untreated it's very difficult to handle.

However.... with all the difficulties that BPD has there are meds to help calm some of the symptoms down. Meds alone cannot treat BPD, as a personality is not an illness it is who a person is. Therapies of different sorts are available to people with this condition. Diabolical Behavioral Treatment is becoming a very popular method for treating BPD patient as well as traditional cognitive/behavioral therapies as well.

Self injury and suicide threats made by BPD persons may seem common to some individuals. No matter how frequent and manipulative they may seem, the person with BPD is not seeing this behavior as a manipulation. Always take them seriously and get help right away. Don't deal with these behaviors on your own.

Living with BPD is like living in that one scene of the matrix... where all the TV's are on different channels... now take those tvs and spin them in different directions. It's hard knowing who you are, having self worth is difficult, you feel empty, you feel like you can never trust your feelings, and it's hard to keep any type of support because even though they want people close their behavior always seems to push others away.

So, be patient with BPD people, but stand your ground too. Don't let us put you into uncomfortable positons. We do it not knowing we are. Try to be understanding but keep your boundaries too.