Borderline personality (BDP) is a mental state where an individual experiences continuous patterns of raging and precarious emotions. The condition affects the individual’s self-image, mood, and behavior over a long period of time.
BDP often leads to impulsive acts and problems when it comes to relating to other people. Recognizable symptoms usually manifest during the teenage years of a person or early adulthood.
A person with this condition may experience depression, anger, and anxiety and can last from a few hours up to several days.
The good news is that borderline personality is a condition that is manageable and sometimes treated – depending on various individuals. Talkspace is one of the platforms that has helped many individuals to recover from this condition.
Signs and symptoms of BDP
Borderline personality generally affects how you feel about yourself and relate to other people. That’s why it manifests itself as an emotional and relationship problem that always results in issues in marriages, romantic relationships, and friendships.
According to Christine Tolman, a therapist at Talkspace, BDP can get worse if it is not addressed in the initial stages.
There are several signs and symptoms that identify borderline personality. Here are the most common ones:
- Continuous feelings of abandonment
- Patterns of strong and unstable relationships such as being crazily in love with a person today and tomorrow seeing the same person as a devil
- A strong fear of abandonment that can sometimes result in imagined rejections and separation from others
- Sudden change in self-image and personal identity
- Threats to harm oneself including suicidal thoughts usually as a response to the fear of perceived abandonment
- Long and short-term mood swings including irritability, extreme happiness, anxiety, sadness, and shame.
Causes of borderline personality
BDP happens both in men and women. Although the cause of this mental disorder is not known, there are a few social, genetic, and familial risk factors that can contribute to it.
Such factors include:
- Physical, emotional, or sexual abuses during the childhood years
- Unstable family environment or trauma at an early age
- Imagined or real fear of abandonment during adolescence or childhood
- Family history of borderline personality
Treatment of borderline personality disorder
Although over the years it has been difficult to treat this condition, there has been strong evidence of people who have been treated and recovered from BPD in recent years. The treatments have continued to be improved and are showing better results as the years go by.
Diagnosis
Treatment of borderline personality disorder starts with a proper diagnosis. If you are experiencing any of the above signs and symptoms, it would be good to talk to your primary caregiver or find a therapist on popular platforms such as Talkspace.
Diagnosis generally involves being asked a series of questions by a therapist in relation to your condition.
The purpose of asking the questions is for the therapist to determine if the condition is related to BPD and recommend the appropriate treatment.
Therapy
After being diagnosed, a licensed therapist from Talkspace or any other reputable company will assist you to treat or manage the condition over a long period.
