Who’s Afraid of BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder)?

If you ask mental health professionals which diagnostic classification they most dread, they won’t generally reply “schizophrenia,” or “bipolar,” or “drug abuse.” More often, they will respond with the disdainful (and amorphous) designation, “borderline.” Indeed, Borderline Personality Disorder frequently refers to demanding, unstable, and difficult individuals. They may idealize beyond measure those whom they will soon come to revile without reason. Lovers become hated. Disappointment slides into litigation. It sometimes seems that everyone’s first wife was a borderline!  Often, BPD becomes a diagnosis of countertransference–the label attributed to a patient who lacks the graciousness to get better, or who just aggravates the doctor.Recent research, however, defies the myths that BPD represents willful spoiled brattiness and never improves. Neurobiological and genetic information demonstrates that DNA vulnerability may combine with environmental circumstance to yield distinctive changes in brain function. In such individuals, those parts of the brain associated with impulsivity and emotionality may be overly stimulated. Specific and directed treatment approaches, such as Dialectical Behavioral Therapy among others, have resulted in marked improvement in functioning. Even without any treatment most BPD patients eventually improve significantly.Although the classic stereotype of BPD is the mutating character played by Glenn Close in the film “Fatal Attraction,” less malignant figures fulfill defining characteristics.  Biographers of Princess Diana  reveal that this beloved woman probably suffered from BPD.  Individuals with borderline traits can be attractive, talented people, who, over time, live full and contented lives.Jerold Kresiman MDFull article: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/i-hate-you-dont-leave-me/201011/whos-afraid-bpd-borderline-personality-disorder

Author: thelastchardonnay

www.deborahgalvin.com Counseling individuals, families, and couples, EFT relationship specialist, clinical researcher, Supreme Court certified family mediator, qualified parenting coordinator, adjunct professor, and medical/healthcare marketer. Join me as I blog through compilations of key descriptions, components, professional and personal accounts, articles, shared experiences, clinical criteria, victimizations, and behavior patterns in persons with high-functioning alcoholism, substance addictions, complex and covert Cluster B personality disorders, and the subsequent emotional abuse of those close to them. My goal and purpose is to create awareness, share knowledge, information, and education. I hope to provide clarity to anyone who may be feeling baffled and confused, or who may not understand what it is they’re seeing or experiencing in their life, or in the lives of someone close to them. Most importantly as a counselor, therapist and abuse survivor, my hope is for those readers to know they are not alone in their journey of discovery and the process of learning, identifying, and healing from the trauma of emotional and psychological abuse. Instagram: @galvindebbie Facebook: Deborah Galvin, MSW @deborahgalvincounseling Twitter: @galvindebbie www.deborahgalvin.com LinkedIn: Deborah Galvin, MSW View all posts by thelastchardonnay