Borderline Personality Disorder

What is Borderline Personality Disorder, Signs, and Treatment

Personality disorders are longstanding patterns of behaviours and internal experiences, which are largely thought of as inflexible, unhealthy, and cause significant distress and/or impairment to the individual’s functioning in different domains of their life. It is important to note that personality disorders can also have a profound impact on the individual’s family and carers. If you relate to this, it is important to speak about your experience with a mental health professional.

Signs & Symptoms

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) specifically, is a personality disorder that is characterised by a pervasive and enduring pattern of some of the following struggles:

  • Extensive efforts to avoid real/perceived abandonment

  • Chronic feelings of emptiness

  • Pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships

  • Intense, affect instability  and dysregulated emotions

  • Disturbance of self-identity and self-image

  • Impulsive and/or reckless behaviours (e.g. spending money)

  • Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger

  • Short-periods of paranoid thoughts/dissociative symptoms

  • Recurrent suicidal behaviour, gestures, threats, or self-harm behaviour

It is important to clarify that relating to some of the above struggles does not necessarily mean you have BPD. Personality disorders are complex mental health states to fully understand and diagnose, thus it is important to speak to a mental health clinician about your experiences.

Comorbidities

Research has demonstrated that individuals diagnosed with BPD are likely to experience co-occuring mental health disorders, such as mood disorders (e.g. Depression), anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, eating disorders, complex trauma, and other personality disorders.

Causes

Like other disorders, there is no single cause of BPD. It can be caused by a combination of factors such as; inherited genetics, temperament, biological factors and environmental factors (e.g. childhood traumatic experiences, abuse, parenting, neglect, attachment difficulties).

Treatment

Research states confidently that BPD treatment is efficacious. In other words, treatment can result in remission of symptoms.

Specific psychological treatments for BPD that our psychologists are trained in can include:

Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) - DBT has several different components. In individual therapy, depending on your treatment needs and goals, your psychologist can help you to understand, accept and change problematic behaviours, and engage you in DBT skills training, where as the client, you can learn skills to tolerate distress, regulate your emotions, and improve your interpersonal relationships etc. Individuals are also encouraged to attend group therapy (externally).

Schema Therapy - The theory underlying schema therapy presumes that when our basic childhood needs are not sufficiently met (e.g. for emotional freedom, spontaneity and play, love, connection and belongingness, sense of identity, healthy limits), we as individuals can develop unhealthy ways of interpreting and interacting with the world (schemas). Your therapist will collaboratively help you to identify your schemas and link them to past events and your current symptoms. Additionally, this therapy involves processing of emotions and altering your unhealthy coping styles related to your life patterns.

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