Vincent Bronson

Guide to Borderline Personality Disorder Management Vincent Bronson

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by a recurring, long-standing pattern of having unstable relationships with others - whether they be romantic relationships, friendships, children, or relationships with family members. The condition is marked by an effort to avoid abandonment (regardless of whether it's real or simply imagined), and impulsivity in decision-making. People with borderline personality disorder often swing from one emotion to another easily and quickly, and their self-image changes just as often. If there's an overarching defining characteristic of someone who suffers from borderline personality disorder, it's that they often seem like they are ping-ponging back and forth between everything in their life. Relationships, emotions, and self-image change as often as the weather, usually in reaction to something happening around them, such as stress, bad news, or a perceived slight. They rarely feel satisfaction or happiness in life, are often bored, and filled with feelings of emptiness. Because of these feelings, many people with BPD make a suicide attempt, or contemplate suicide regularly. Suicidal thoughts are common and can lead some people to make a plan or try and carry out suicide. Therefore assessment of suicide and suicidal intent is regularly conducted. The term "borderline" means in-between one thing and another. Originally, this term was used when the clinician was unsure of the correct diagnosis because the client manifested a mixture of neurotic and psychotic symptoms. Many clinicians thought of these clients as being on the border between neurotic and psychotic, and thus the term "borderline" came into use. The term "borderline" has sometimes been used in a number of ways in society that are quite different from the formal diagnostic criteria for borderline personality disorder (BPD). In some circles, "borderline" is still used as a "catch-all" diagnosis for individuals who are hard to diagnose or is interpreted as meaning "nearly psychotic," despite a lack of empirical support for this conceptualization of the disorder. Additionally, with the recent popularity of "borderline" as a diagnostic category and the reputation of these clients as being difficult to treat, "borderline" is often used as a generic label for difficult clients - or as a reason (or excuse) for a patient's psychotherapy going badly. It is one of the most stigmatized mental disorders, even among mental health professionals.