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Borderline Personality Disorder? November 18, 2003, 11:56 PM
A
borderline writes:
"Being a borderline feels like eternal hell. Nothing less.
Pain, anger, confusion, hurt, never knowing how I'm gonna feel
from one minute to the next. Hurting because I hurt those who
I love. Feeling misunderstood. Analyzing everything. Nothing gives
me pleasure. Once in a great while I will get "too happy"
and then anxious because of that. Then I self-medicate with alcohol.
Then I physically hurt myself. Then I feel guilty because of that.
Shame. Wanting to die but not being able to kill myself because
I'd feel too much guilt for those I'd hurt, and then feeling angry
about that so I cut myself or O.D. to make all the feelings go
away. Stress!"
Therapists
use a book called "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual"
(DSM) to make mental health diagnoses. They've outlined nine traits
that borderlines seem to have in common; the presence of five
or more of them may indicate BPD.
However,
please note the following:
- Everyone
has all these traits to a certain extent. Especially teenagers.
These traits must be long-standing (lasting years) and persistent.
And they must be intense.
- Be
very careful about diagnosing yourself or others. In fact, don't
do it. Top researchers guide patients through several days of
testing before they make a diagnosis. Don't make your own
diagnosis on the basis of a WWW site or a book!
- Many
people who have BPD also have other concerns, such as depression,
eating disorders, substance abuse � even multiple personality
disorder or attention deficit disorder. It can be difficult
to isolate what is BPD and what might be something else. Again,
you need to talk to a qualified professional.�
DSM-IV
Definition of BPD
- A
pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships,
self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity beginning by
early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated
by five (or more) of the following:�
- Frantic
efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment. Note: Do not
include suicidal or self-mutilating behavior covered in (5).�
- A
pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships
characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization
and devaluation. This is called "splitting."
Following
is a definition of splitting from the book I Hate You, Don't
Leave Me by Jerry Kreisman, M.D. From page 10:�
The
world of a BP, like that of a child, is split into heroes and
villains. A child emotionally, the BP cannot tolerate human
inconsistencies and ambiguities; he cannot reconcile anther
is good and bad qualities into a constant coherent understanding
of another person. At any particular moment, one is either Good
or EVIL. There is no in-between; no gray area....people are
idolized one day; totally devalued and dismissed the next.
Normal
people are ambivalent and can experience two contradictory states
atone time; BPs shift back and forth, entirely unaware of one
feeling state while in the other.�
When
the idealized person finally disappoints (as we all do, sooner
or later) the borderline must drastically restructure his one-dimensional
conceptionalization. Either the idol is banished to the dungeon,
or the borderline banishes himself in other to preserve the
all-good image of the other person.
Splitting
is intended to shield the BP from a barrage of contradictory
feelings and images and from the anxiety of trying to reconcile
those images. But splitting often achieves the opposite effect.
The frays in the BP's personality become rips, and the sense
of his own identity and the identity of others shifts even more
dramatically and frequently.
- Identity
disturbance: markedly and persistently unstable self-image or
sense of self.�
- Impulsivity
in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (e.g.,
spending, sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, binge eating).
Note: Do not include suicidal or self-mutilating behavior covered
in (5).�
- Recurrent
suicidal behavior, gestures, or threats, or self-mutilating
behavior.�
- Affective
instability due to a marked reactivity of mood (e.g., intense
episodic dysphoria, irritability, or anxiety usually lasting
a few hours and only rarely more than a few days).�
- Chronic
feelings of emptiness.�
- Inappropriate,
intense anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g., frequent
displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights).�
- Transient,
stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms.�
Dissociation
is the state in which, on some level or another, one becomes
somewhat removed from "reality," whether this be daydreaming,
performing actions without being fully connected to their performance
("running on automatic"), or other, more disconnected
actions. It is the opposite of "association" and involves
the lack of association, usually of one's identity, with the
rest of the world.
There
is no "pure" BPD; it coexists with other illnesses.
These are the most common. BPD may coexist with:
- Post
traumatic stress disorder�
- Mood
disorders�
- Panic/anxiety
disorders�
- Substance
abuse (54% of BPs also have a problem with substance abuse)�
- Gender
identity disorder�
- Attention
deficit disorder�
- Eating
disorders�
- Multiple
personality disorder�
- Obsessive-compulsive
disorder�
Statistics
about BPD
BPs
comprise:�
- 2%
of the general population
- 10%
of all mental health outpatients
- 20%
of psychiatric inpatients
- 75%
of those diagnosed are women
- 75%
have been physically or sexually abused
Learn
about the causes and
treatment of BPD.
Welcome to my new found hell.
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