While there is no definitive cure for BPD, it is absolutely treatable. 1 In fact, with the right treatment approach, you can be well on the road to recovery and remission. While remission and recovery are not necessarily a "cure," both constitute the successful treatment of BPD.
Recovery in borderline personality disorder (BPD) has predominantly been viewed in the context of symptom improvement and no longer meeting diagnostic criteria. Longitudinal studies have demonstrated that symptom remission is a common occurrence, with remission rates ranging between 33 and 99% [1].
Follow up studies of people with BPD receiving treatment found a borderline personality disorder treatment success rate of about 50% over a 10-year period. BPD takes time to improve, but treatment does work.
Treatment with DBT was the first form of psychotherapy shown to be effective in treating BPD, and it's one of the most effective ways of recovering from the condition. Completing the full skills curriculum in standard DBT usually takes 24 weeks, which is often repeated for a one-year treatment program.
Research has shown that the prognosis for BPD is actually not as bad at once thought. Almost half of people who are diagnosed with BPD will not meet the criteria for a diagnosis just two years later. Ten years later, 88% of people who were once diagnosed with BPD no longer meet the criteria for a diagnosis.
It can be distressing for the person with borderline personality disorder and the people around them, and it is often misunderstood. It is the most common personality disorder in Australia, affecting about 1 to 4 in every 100 people at some time in their lives.
Results: People with Borderline Personality Disorder have a reduced life expectancy of some 20 years, attributable largely to physical health maladies, notably cardiovascular. Risk factors include obesity, sedentary lifestyle, poor diet and smoking.
BPD is not necessarily a lifelong disorder. Many patients retain residual symptoms later in life.
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) cannot be cured, and anyone who enters treatment looking for a quick and easy fix is bound to be disappointed. However, with treatment the symptoms of BPD can be effectively managed, monitored, and ultimately reduced in intensity, or entirely eliminated.
BPD in adulthood
Studies found that most patients with BPD improve with time. After 2 years, 1/4 of patients experience a remission (less than 2 symptoms for a period of 2 months or longer) of BPD diagnosis. After 10 years, 91% achieved remission of at least 2 months and 85% achieving remission for 12 months or longer.
Borderline Personality Disorder is without question treatable. It takes time – healing is a marathon, never a sprint – but with early intervention, compassionate support, and appropriate treatment, individuals living with BPD can improve and ultimately thrive.
Also, many people achieve remission — their symptoms become much less intense, so much so that they no longer meet the criteria for diagnosis. The stigma around BPD is pervasive, but many people get better. With treatment, it's possible to go on to lead a happy and healthy life.
Overall, about half of the variance associated with changes in scores over the 10 years of the study appeared to be stable over time. Borderline symptoms appeared to be more stable over time (a . 81 time-invariant correlation).
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a serious, long-lasting and complex mental health problem. People with BPD have difficulty regulating or handling their emotions or controlling their impulses.
The Social Security Administration placed borderline personality disorder as one of the mental health disorders on its disabilities list. However, you'll have to meet specific criteria for an official disability finding. For example, you must prove that you have the symptoms of the condition.
Know that you can live a normal life with BPD.
People with BPD often have risk-taking behaviors, such as overspending, drug use, reckless driving, or self-harm due to a lack of inhibition. Although these behaviors can be dangerous, and potentially life-threatening, many people with BPD are high-functioning individuals.
Living with borderline personality disorder (BPD) poses some challenges. Intense emotional pain and feelings of emptiness, desperation, anger, hopelessness, and loneliness are common. These symptoms can affect every part of your life.
Often, the borderline person is unaware of how they feel when their feelings surface, so they displace their feelings onto others as causing them. They may not realise that their feelings belong within them, so they think that their partner is responsible for hurting them and causing them to feel this way.
Findings from community samples have demonstrated that BPD symptoms and features peak during mid-adolescence and decline during late adolescence and young adulthood [11–14].
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) has historically been seen as a lifelong, highly disabling disorder.
BPD is one of the most commonly misdiagnosed mental health conditions. It's so misdiagnosed, in fact, that there isn't even an accurate prevalence rate for the condition.
Borderline personality disorder usually begins by early adulthood. The condition seems to be worse in young adulthood and may gradually get better with age. If you have borderline personality disorder, don't get discouraged.
People with BPD score low on cognitive empathy but high on emotional empathy. This suggests that they do not easily understand other peoples' perspectives, but their own emotions are very sensitive. This is important because it could align BPD with other neurodiverse conditions.
It is commonly believed that symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) lessen with age. For example, the DSM-IV states: “The impairment from the disorder and the risk of suicide are greatest in the young-adult years and gradually wane with advancing age” (1).