Perhaps the illness is to blame for the tantrums and unsuccessful relationships. And it can be cured.
We talk about health, based on research by scientists. Everything so that you do not miss dangerous symptoms, buy working drugs, and properly take care of yourself.
What is borderline personality disorder?
This is a serious borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) mental illness. People with BPD find it difficult to control their emotions and behavior, build stable relationships, and often have self-esteem problems. They can also put themselves in danger or harm themselves. For example, leave burns on the skin, have sex with random partners, get involved in fights, violate traffic rules. Sometimes it comes down to suicide attempts.
The condition is also dangerous because others may appear with a borderline personality disorder, mental illness, depression, bipolar disorder, and eating disorders.
Borderline disorder is striking about 2% of young people. It is most often found in women. It poses potential depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.
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What Causes Borderline Personality Disorder
Where borderline personality disorder comes from, no one knows for sure. Scientists only speculate that there could be three reasons.
Heredity
Those who have relatives with BPD are more at risk of getting sick. This is suggested by Heritability by Personality Disorders in Childhood: A Preliminary Investigation scientists who interviewed 112 pairs of twins.
Brain malfunction
Studies show that people with BPD sometimes experience structural and functional changes in the brain. This is especially true for areas that control impulses and emotions. There are failures before the illness, or because of it, it is not yet clear.
Environment
Some patients report that they experienced stress in childhood. For example, physical or sexual abuse, separation from parents. Others have had toxic relationships or serious conflicts.
How to recognize borderline personality disorder
People with BPD are emotionally unstable. Because of this, their behavior changes. Here are the symptoms of borderline personality disorder, for which you can suspect a disease.
- Sudden mood swings. Feelings of happiness, irritability, or anxiety can last from a few hours to a few days.
- Constant feeling of emptiness.
- Strong or inappropriate anger. The person can be sarcastic, angry, and even get into fights.
- Rapid changes in self-esteem and self-identification, goals, and values. Everything was fine, but after a minute, the person with the disorder considers himself bad or behaves like others do not exist.
- UnstableBorderline Personality Disorderrelationships with loved ones. A person then idealizes people, then suddenly decides that they do not care about him, or accuses them of something, for example, cruelty.
- Fear of being abandoned. To avoid real or imagined rejection, a person may quickly start an intimate relationship (physical or emotional) or stop abruptly.
- Impulsive and often dangerous behavior: shoplifting, unprotected sex, traffic violations, overeating, drug use. But if all this manifests itself when a person is in a good mood, the symptom indicates borderline Personality Disorder rather than a mood disorder.
- Feelings of dissociation. In this state, it seems to a person that he is as if torn from the body and looks at himself from the side. And everything that happens looks unrealistic.
- Self-injurious behavior. Man can cause borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), cut your skin, and leave burns on it. Sometimes the desire to harm yourself comes to suicide attempts.
- Attacks of paranoia. The person with the disorder often worries that others do not really like him and do not want to spend time together, even if it isn’t.
Not all people with BPD experience borderline Personality Disorder with a complete list of symptoms. Trifles can cause them. For example, a business trip of a loved one. The severity of the manifestations and their duration depends on the person.
What to do if you have suicidal thoughts
If you are considering harming yourself or taking your own life, seek help. It can be obtained in several ways:
- Call the hotline of the Emergency Psychological Aid Center of Russia’s EMERCOM: +7 (495) 989-50-50.
- Contact a psychologist on the website of the Ministry of Emergencies.
- If you live in Moscow, dial 051 from a landline phone or +7 (495) 051 from a mobile phone.
- Leave a request on the website of the Moscow Service for Psychological Assistance to the Population. A specialist will advise you, even if you do not live in the capital.
- Call your psychologist.
- Talk to a loved one. This can be a friend, relative, or loved one.
How is borderline personality disorder treated?
Differently, first of all, you need to see a therapist. Diagnosis and Tests a complete medical history and may order a blood test or x-ray to rule out the physical causes of symptoms.
If everything is in order with the body, the doctor can send the patient to a psychotherapist or psychiatrist. He will talk about Borderline Personality Disorder with a person, finds out if the family had a mental illness. The borderline disorder can be difficult to recognize due to additional illnesses, depression, or anxiety disorder.
Once the diagnosis is made, the doctor will prescribe appropriate therapy.
Psychotherapy
Several types have been developed for people with a borderline personality disorder. Borderline personality disorder talking therapy.
- Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. Teaches control borderline Personality Disorderstrong emotions and do not harm yourself. After treatment, patients often improve their relationships with those around them.
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Helps Borderline Personality Disorderpeople with the disorder find and change the beliefs that damage their self-esteem and relationships. After classes, patients almost do not feel anxiety and harm themselves less.
- Schematic therapy. It is carried out individually or in a group. It helps to remember unmet needs, due to which the patient is used to inappropriate behavior patterns. For example, as a child, a child screamed to draw the parents’ attention to himself. Once, it could have helped, but now it only hurts. In the classroom, a person can learn to behave correctly and achieve goals in inadequate ways.
- Mentalization-based therapy. It helps patients to identify their feelings and emotions and relate to them more calmly. The emphasis is on what a person should think first and then do.
- Systemic training for emotional predictability and problem solving (STEPPS). The treatment is designed for 20 weeks and occurs in a group where the patient and his loved ones get. Used as an adjunct to other types of psychotherapy.
- Transference-focused psychotherapy (psychodynamic therapy). During the session, the patient tells the specialist about situations when he was behaving aggressively. Together with the doctor, the patient looks for other models of behavior models and then tries to apply them in life.
- General psychiatric management. The treatment takes place during work or study. The patient himself tries to catch and comprehend emotionally difficult moments. A person can also take medications, work with a psychotherapist individually or with the family.
Medicines
Medication is not the main treatment for borderline personality disorder. They are appointed borderline personality disorder to relieve symptoms of depression, aggression, or anxiety. These can be antidepressants, antipsychotics, or mood stabilizers.
Some medications cause side effects. The doctor will tell you what to expect from a particular drug.
Hospitalization
Occasionally, patients with borderline personality disorder requiring treatment in a psychiatric clinic. It helps people not to harm themselves and get rid of suicidal thoughts.
How successful the treatment can be
The outlook for people with borderline personality disorder is different borderline Personality Disorder (BPD): Outlook / Prognosis. Recovery is possible, but not always. In any case, it is a slow and difficult process. Some patients begin to lead normal lives through therapy and learn to communicate properly.
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For unknown reasons, the disease tends to burn out. Therefore, sometimes people with the disorder notice that their condition has improved by the age of 35-40.
How to live with a borderline personality disorder
If you have a borderline personality disorder and are already in therapy, go beyond that. Here are some tips for Borderline personality disorder that will help you cope with the disease and not harm yourself and others:
- Learn to recognize what triggers outbursts of anger or impulsive behavior.
- Try to get rid of other BPD problems. For example, from alcoholism or drug addiction.
- Ask loved ones to join therapy. They may be able to understand and support you.
- Find people with BPD. They can talk about their experiences and give advice.
- Make a crisis plan with your doctor. This way, you will know exactly what to do if you want to hurt yourself.
- Try meditation or breathing practices. It helps control emotions.
- Try not to think about how others think about you. It does not matter.
- Try to express your emotions in a way that doesn’t hurt others. You may sometimes have to remain silent.
- Consider a healthy lifestyle. Try to stop eating fast food and start exercising in the morning.
- Don’t beat yourself up for the illness. But understand, treatment is only your responsibility.
Adapted and translated by Wiki Avenue Staff
Sources: Life hacker
