Caring roles Many people with BPD feel emotions deeply and find working in a caring role fulfilling. If you are an empathetic person, consider jobs such as teaching, childcare, nursing and animal care.
People with BPD need validation and acknowledgement of the pain they're struggling with. Listen to the emotion your loved one is trying to communicate without getting bogged down in attempting to reconcile the words being used. Try to make the person with BPD feel heard.
Effects of BPD symptoms
An employee or coworker with BPD may be a good worker when not overwhelmed by their symptoms. However, the effects of BPD symptoms can vary with different workplace situations, affecting job performance and the ability to “fit in” with the work environment.
You don't have to tell your boss that you have BPD, but some people find that being transparent actually improves relationships at work. You may find it easier to explain your mood swings and impulsive behaviours or ask for help when you need it.
Coping skills for BPD are often centered around learning to manage moments of emotional instability and/or control anger. Some techniques to help in these situations could include: Using stress-reduction techniques, like deep breathing or meditation. Engaging in light exercise, like walking or yoga.
BPD in particular is one of the lesser-known mental illnesses, but all the same it is one of the hardest to reckon with. (Some people dislike the term so much they prefer to refer to emotionally unstable personality disorder.)
Separations, disagreements, and rejections—real or perceived—are the most common triggers for symptoms. A person with BPD is highly sensitive to abandonment and being alone, which brings about intense feelings of anger, fear, suicidal thoughts and self-harm, and very impulsive decisions.
Many people who live with BPD have meaningful and successful careers in a wide range of industries. When it comes to borderline personality disorder and work, everyone's experience is different. For some people, their BPD symptoms can lead to challenges in the workplace.
It is possible to have career success when you're not overwhelmed by your symptoms. But the effects of BPD can vary in different workplace settings, affecting your job performance and your ability to "fit in" with your co-workers.
It is certainly possible to have BPD and success in education and employment. In fact, many maintain strong careers when able to control BPD symptoms. On the other hand, some people with BPD have trouble with their career in which some are unemployed, underemployed or unhappy in their jobs.
People with BPD often struggle with unstable relationships, managing behavior, and even their own self-image, all of which can interfere with the daily activities and responsibilities that work requires.
From the two studies that assessed employment status as a dichotomous variable (i.e., employed or unemployed), we can cautiously conclude that approximately 45 percent of patients with BPD remain unemployed at follow-up.
Consider cutting out all processed food and sugar for a few weeks and observe your energy level and your emotions. Avoid misusing alcohol or caffeine, as these also can intensify mood instability. BPD sometimes includes symptoms of self-harm or substance abuse.
Borderline personality disorder is one of the most painful mental illnesses since individuals struggling with this disorder are constantly trying to cope with volatile and overwhelming emotions.
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.
Borderline intellectual functioning, previously called borderline mental retardation (in the ICD-8), is a categorization of intelligence wherein a person has below average cognitive ability (generally an IQ of 70–85), but the deficit is not as severe as intellectual disability (below 70).
Splitting is a psychological mechanism which allows the person to tolerate difficult and overwhelming emotions by seeing someone as either good or bad, idealised or devalued. This makes it easier to manage the emotions that they are feeling, which on the surface seem to be contradictory.
Basically the challenge of a borderline person comes in depending on somebody — with all that that brings up, the hunger, the anxiety, the anger and the deep mistrust as to whether you can actually put your weight on the other person's reliability.
While those with BPD are often highly intelligent and creative, symptoms can impair their learning and daily functioning in school. A student impacted by BPD may have a significantly more difficult time than a typical teenager managing relationships, academic pressures or anxiety.
For many folks with BPD, a “meltdown” will manifest as rage. For some, it might look like swinging from one intense emotion to another. For others, it might mean an instant drop into suicidal ideation. Whatever your experience is, you're not alone.
People with borderline personality disorder have a deep fear of abandonment. They compete for social acceptance, are terrified of rejection and often feel lonely even in the context of an intimate relationship. Therefore, it is more difficult for them to manage the normal ups and downs of a romantic partnership.