The first step in seeking help and treatment for borderline personality disorder is to visit a doctor who can coordinate a team of mental health professionals, such as a psychologist or psychiatrist to manage the condition.
If you're not sure where to get help, a health care provider can refer you to a licensed mental health professional, such as a psychiatrist or psychologist with experience treating borderline personality disorder. Find tips to help prepare for and get the most out of your visit and information about getting help.
BPD can be treated by psychiatrists and psychologists. It is sometimes also treated by GPs, nurses, social workers and occupational therapists with special training. Specialised mental health services for people with BPD are available in some major cities.
If you want to talk about BPD and a possible diagnosis, visit your GP. Bringing up your BPD concerns to your doctor may be frightening at first, but it's the first step that needs to be done in order to have a borderline personality disorder assessment completed.
A licensed mental health professional can diagnose someone with borderline personality disorder (BPD). In many smaller or rural communities, a family doctor or family physician may also be in a position to diagnose borderline personality disorder.
Can I self-diagnose BPD? No. Only a healthcare or mental health professional can accurately diagnose a mental health condition.
If you're wondering whether or not you have BPD, contact a mental health professional to schedule an appointment for an assessment. While it can take time to connect with a clinician who specializes in treating BPD, it's the best way to find an effective treatment for your needs.
Individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPDs) become overwhelmed and incapacitated by the intensity of their emotions, whether it is joy and elation or depression, anxiety, and rage. They are unable to manage these intense emotions.
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) can be hard to diagnose because the symptoms of this disorder overlap with many other conditions, such as bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, and even eating disorders.
Intense episodic irritability or anxiety lasting a few hours or more than a few days). Recurring feelings of emptiness. Frequent intense, inappropriate anger or issues controlling temper. Severe dissociative symptoms or stress-related paranoia.
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) has long been believed to be a disorder that produces the most intense emotional pain and distress in those who have this condition. Studies have shown that borderline patients experience chronic and significant emotional suffering and mental agony.
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.
Individuals with symptoms of BPD are particularly sensitive to perceived criticism. This increases the likelihood that they will feel attacked when a therapist attempts to offer suggestions or insights. This often leads to lashing out.
Clinicians can be reluctant to make a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD). One reason is that BPD is a complex syndrome with symptoms that overlap many Axis I disorders. This paper will examine interfaces between BPD and depression, between BPD and bipolar disorder, and between BPD and psychoses.
To evaluate crying behavior, we used a set of specially designed tools. Compared to non-patients, BPD patients showed the anticipated higher crying frequency despite a similar crying proneness and ways of dealing with tears.
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.
The destructive and hurtful behaviors are a reaction to deep emotional pain. In other words, they're not about you. When your loved one does or says something hurtful towards you, understand that the behavior is motivated by the desire to stop the pain they are experiencing; it's rarely deliberate.
Give Specific Information About the Disorder
A pattern of unstable and intense relationships, often marked by alternating between idealization and devaluation. An unstable self-image or sense of self. Impulsivity in activities that are potentially self-damaging (like reckless driving or binge eating)
BPD individuals have more problems using context cues for inhibiting responses and their impulsivity is stress-dependent, whereas ADHD patients have more motor impulsivity and therefore difficulties interrupting ongoing responses.
Personality disorders, including borderline personality disorder, are diagnosed based on a: Detailed interview with your doctor or mental health provider. Psychological evaluation that may include completing questionnaires. Medical history and exam.
Unstable sense of self, which may involve frequent shifts in goals, values, and career plans. Frequently changing your feelings toward other people. Feeling like you don't exist. Frequent feelings of emptiness or boredom.
Many mental health professionals offer a brief free consultation over the phone, though these calls typically needed to be scheduled in advance. Let the therapist know that you are interested in an assessment and treatment. Describe some of your symptoms. You can even mention that you think you may have BPD.
Borderline personality disorder causes significant impairment and distress and is associated with multiple medical and psychiatric co-morbidities. Surveys have estimated the prevalence of borderline personality disorder to be 1.6% in the general population and 20% in the inpatient psychiatric population.