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Okay all you armchair psychiatrists...
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<blockquote data-quote="rlsnights" data-source="post: 321322" data-attributes="member: 7948"><p>I don't mean to represent myself as an authority on Borderline (BPD). Our oldest has that diagnosis (along with several co-morbid conditions) and I have done some reading about it. It's my impression that, to receive this actual diagnosis, one's symptoms must be fairly severe and prominent. Like a lot of things, Borderline (BPD) looks like an extreme exaggeration of the way many people manage the emotional rollercoaster that is life. Some symptoms, like reactivity, a characteristic of a number of other disorders including bipolar and anxiety.</p><p></p><p>That said, I think that Janet's description helps bring out the way this mental illness affects people's behavior really well. With my son you are either his best friend (even tho he only met you 5 minutes ago) or you are against him. There is no middle ground and your position as friend or enemy shifts suddenly and extremely from one to the other. You may or may not be able to identify the reason for the shift since it could be as simple as leaving his apartment to go to the store.</p><p></p><p></p><p>When I speak of abandonment in the context of Borderline (BPD) it is way beyond feeling alone and needing a distraction (not to diminish your distress at the time gcvmom). It is not unusual for a person with Borderline (BPD) to interpret a request to call back later because you're busy as a devastating rejection. Based on this simple conversation, they may decide that you don't want them in your life, that you will never again be their friend, that they are unloved by everyone and unwanted. This in turn leads to suicidal thoughts and impulses or self-injurious behaviors. Since no one loves them they will just kill themselves - despair hardly describes the depth of their misery.</p><p></p><p>I think that you can certainly have "Borderline (BPD) features" without having full blown Borderline (BPD). But if the reason for, say, the rage isn't triggered by the fear of abandonment then it doesn't fit well under the Borderline (BPD) diagnostic rubric as I understand it.</p><p></p><p>I think that anxiety is under-rated as a cause or co-morbidity of compulsive behaviors and mood swings/reactivity. Severe anxiety can look like Borderline (BPD), it can look like Bipolar, it is a chameleon and it can take a lengthy period of experience for a psychiatrist or therapist to discern the extent to which anxiety is driving certain feelings and behaviors.</p><p></p><p>The way DBT is intended to help a person with Borderline (BPD) is by teaching them to recognize and manage their extreme emotional fluctuations. The focus is on separating themselves from those emotions and managing the need to act on those emotions in more adaptive ways. Mindfulness is a key skill and integral to successful treatment of Borderline (BPD).</p><p></p><p>As to the cause of Borderline (BPD), like many illnesses physical and mental, it appears there is genetic pre-disposition and environmental factors. Some research has shown differences in brain structure and function in people with Borderline (BPD). Borderline (BPD) tends to run in families but it is hard to tell whether this is due to genetics or to environment (or both). Invalidating caregivers who tell the child that the child's feelings are wrong or different than what the child is feeling or who create a chaotic, abusive environment are part of the environmental influences thought to contribute to the development of Borderline (BPD).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="rlsnights, post: 321322, member: 7948"] I don't mean to represent myself as an authority on Borderline (BPD). Our oldest has that diagnosis (along with several co-morbid conditions) and I have done some reading about it. It's my impression that, to receive this actual diagnosis, one's symptoms must be fairly severe and prominent. Like a lot of things, Borderline (BPD) looks like an extreme exaggeration of the way many people manage the emotional rollercoaster that is life. Some symptoms, like reactivity, a characteristic of a number of other disorders including bipolar and anxiety. That said, I think that Janet's description helps bring out the way this mental illness affects people's behavior really well. With my son you are either his best friend (even tho he only met you 5 minutes ago) or you are against him. There is no middle ground and your position as friend or enemy shifts suddenly and extremely from one to the other. You may or may not be able to identify the reason for the shift since it could be as simple as leaving his apartment to go to the store. When I speak of abandonment in the context of Borderline (BPD) it is way beyond feeling alone and needing a distraction (not to diminish your distress at the time gcvmom). It is not unusual for a person with Borderline (BPD) to interpret a request to call back later because you're busy as a devastating rejection. Based on this simple conversation, they may decide that you don't want them in your life, that you will never again be their friend, that they are unloved by everyone and unwanted. This in turn leads to suicidal thoughts and impulses or self-injurious behaviors. Since no one loves them they will just kill themselves - despair hardly describes the depth of their misery. I think that you can certainly have "Borderline (BPD) features" without having full blown Borderline (BPD). But if the reason for, say, the rage isn't triggered by the fear of abandonment then it doesn't fit well under the Borderline (BPD) diagnostic rubric as I understand it. I think that anxiety is under-rated as a cause or co-morbidity of compulsive behaviors and mood swings/reactivity. Severe anxiety can look like Borderline (BPD), it can look like Bipolar, it is a chameleon and it can take a lengthy period of experience for a psychiatrist or therapist to discern the extent to which anxiety is driving certain feelings and behaviors. The way DBT is intended to help a person with Borderline (BPD) is by teaching them to recognize and manage their extreme emotional fluctuations. The focus is on separating themselves from those emotions and managing the need to act on those emotions in more adaptive ways. Mindfulness is a key skill and integral to successful treatment of Borderline (BPD). As to the cause of Borderline (BPD), like many illnesses physical and mental, it appears there is genetic pre-disposition and environmental factors. Some research has shown differences in brain structure and function in people with Borderline (BPD). Borderline (BPD) tends to run in families but it is hard to tell whether this is due to genetics or to environment (or both). Invalidating caregivers who tell the child that the child's feelings are wrong or different than what the child is feeling or who create a chaotic, abusive environment are part of the environmental influences thought to contribute to the development of Borderline (BPD). [/QUOTE]
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