It is considered a Cluster B Personality Disorder
A person with Cluster B Personality Disorder is characterised by an inability to control his or her emotions. The person suffers extreme mood swings. Decisions are often impulsive and irrational which play a role in the person's inability to sustain relationships.
Other disorders classified as Cluster B include, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Histrionic and and antisocial.
Borderline Personality Disorder is the hardest Personality disorder to live with
Symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder
A person with BPD has a very unstable character. You cannot predict from the beginning, how it will end. He or she has emotions fluctuating like a flickering light bulb.
It is very difficult to start or sustain a meaningful relationship with someone with BPD.
In extreme cases, this person can indulge in self-destructive behaviors which also affects people around him or her. He or she is prone to unprovoked outburst of anger or rage with a strong fear of being abandoned. A relationship with a person with BPD will feel like one who is continually on edge or one walking on egg shells. People with BPD are very sensitive. They have so many thoughts in their heads at the same time which makes it almost impossible for them to think straight when under pressure.
Someone with BPD can read meaning into everything and will find a way to position himself or herself as the victim. This gives them a very bitter feeling about the situation which will in turn trigger an uncontrollable need to defend one's self. This often plays out in the most rageful expression of hurt.
Someone with BDP is often out of touch with reality.
A person BPD can be excessive about everything. He or she may indulge in self harming habits such as binge eating, reckless driving, spending spree, substance abuse and all manner of addictions.
Causes of Borderline Personality Disorder
Childhood trauma:
A person with BPD may have experienced a traumatic childhood. This experience may have come in different shapes and forms.
Children manage trauma differently. Children may be placed in a very unstable environment but one may be greatly affected by it up to it having a mental effect on the child eg. A child exposed to violence in the home. A child abandoned by a parent or two. A child molested by an adult and sometimes even financial hardship can trigger this mental illness.
A study has found that most people affected by BPD have experienced some kind of trauma as a child.
Other causes of BPD
Hereditary:
Some are actually inherited. In this situation, when you look back into the person's family line, you will discover that one or two have had the same issue.
Points to the poor development of the following parts of the brain:
A. Orbitofrontal Cortex:
This part is so important as it helps process reward, punishment and decision making. In some people with BPD, this may have been poorly developed.
B. Amygdala and Hypothalamus:
This part of the brain regulates anger, excitement, fear, love and hate.
Then there is the Hippocampus which is responsible for self-control. This may have been poorly developed in a person with BPD.
C. Serotonin:
This is a natural chemical in the brain that helps control one's mood. This chemical and another one called melatonin work hand in hand. This chemical may not be sufficient in people with BPD.
Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder
The best treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder is called Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) carried out by a mental health counselor.
This treatment teaches the behavioural changes that will help the person suffering from BPD to understand what is happening to him or her with skills to deal with it such as developing relationship management skills, emotional intelligence and regulation.
When BPD is left untreated it will show in the symptoms.
There are medications for BPD. Medications are best offered by a certified medical doctor.
Is there really any medicine that is currently licenced as the treatment for BPD?
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