Most personality disorders begin in the teen years when your personality further develops and matures. As a result, almost all people diagnosed with borderline personality disorder are above the age of 18. Although anyone can develop BPD, it's more common if you have a family history of BPD.
The symptoms of borderline personality disorder usually first occur in the teenage years and early twenties. However, onset may occur in some adults after the age of thirty, and behavioral precursors are evident in some children.
But borderline personality disorder does not develop as a result of those traumas. Instead, it is a combination of genetic factors and childhood experiences (early environmental influences) that cause a person to develop borderline personality disorder.
Environmental factors
being a victim of emotional, physical or sexual abuse. being exposed to long-term fear or distress as a child. being neglected by 1 or both parents. growing up with another family member who had a serious mental health condition, such as bipolar disorder or a drink or drug misuse problem.
The majority of individuals with BPD describe their symptoms as first manifesting in adolescence, if not before the age of 13.
Wide mood swings lasting from a few hours to a few days, which can include intense happiness, irritability, shame or anxiety. Ongoing feelings of emptiness. Inappropriate, intense anger, such as frequently losing your temper, being sarcastic or bitter, or having physical fights.
Stressful or traumatic life events
Often having felt afraid, upset, unsupported or invalidated. Family difficulties or instability, such as living with a parent or carer who experienced an addiction. Sexual, physical or emotional abuse or neglect. Losing a parent.
Early Onset
As previously mentioned, DSM-5 permits the diagnosis of BPD in patients younger than 18 if symptoms persist for at least 1 year. Symptoms of BPD usually start prior to adulthood and the diagnosis can be made reliably.
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.
Risk factors for BPD include: Abandonment in childhood or adolescence. Disrupted family life. Poor communication in the family.
Surveys have estimated the prevalence of borderline personality disorder to be 1.6% in the general population and 20% in the inpatient psychiatric population.
The results: Nearly seven out of every eight patients achieved symptom remission lasting at least four years, and half no longer met the criteria for borderline personality disorder. “People with BPD can get out of the mental health system,” Hoffman said. “It's not a lifelong diagnosis.”
Though the severity of BPD symptoms diminishes with age, it is possible to get a BPD diagnosis when you are older. “BPD can be diagnosed any time in adulthood,” says Max K. Shapey, LCSW, in Evanston, Ill. “I have certainly diagnosed clients with BPD in the age range of 45 to 60 who haven't had that diagnosis before.”
Common BPD Triggers
While triggers will vary from person to person, these are some common ones: Perceived or real abandonment. Rejection of any kind. Loss of a job.
People with borderline personality disorder may experience intense mood swings and feel uncertainty about how they see themselves. Their feelings for others can change quickly, and swing from extreme closeness to extreme dislike. These changing feelings can lead to unstable relationships and emotional pain.
Individuals living with quiet BPD may have decreased levels of empathy, high conflict relationships, clinginess and fear of abandonment, adds Dr. Lira de la Rosa. “The combination of these symptoms can lead to unstable interpersonal relationships, low self-esteem and periods of depression.”
BPD is a personality disorder that has historically been diagnosed in adults. A significant body of evidence suggests it is possible for children and adolescents to begin to develop BPD before age 18. Because teen personalities are still forming, young people may undergo many changes before they're considered an adult.
PTSD is focused on an extremely traumatic incident or a series of incidents and the symptoms tend to be outwardly noticeable, whereas BPD revolves around the fear of abandonment and tends to be inwardly displayed (self-harm, self-deprecation, self-doubt).”
That's not true! Although it is not caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, such as what happens during a depressive episode, BPD does have biological foundations. BPD develops partly from having a highly sensitive nervous system.
This can lead to various mental health difficulties, including the problems commonly seen in people who receive a diagnosis of BPD. “We found a strong link between childhood trauma and BPD, which is particularly large when emotional abuse and neglect was involved.”
Impulsive and often dangerous behaviors, such as spending sprees, unsafe sex, substance abuse, reckless driving and binge eating. Recurring suicidal behaviors or threats or self-harming behavior, such as cutting. Intense and highly changeable moods, with each episode lasting from a few hours to a few days.
But, historically, the theory of “quiet BPD” referred to symptoms such as: intense mood swings that you manage to hide from others. suppressing feelings of anger or denying that you feel angry. withdrawing when you're upset.
A pattern of intense and unstable relationships with family, friends, and loved ones. A distorted and unstable self-image or sense of self. Impulsive and often dangerous behaviors, such as spending sprees, unsafe sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, and binge eating.