2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43
Borderline personality disorder refers to mental illness that manifests itself in most patients in sudden mood swings, a tendency to commit impulsive acts, and difficulty in building normal relationships with others. People with this psychopathology often suffer from depression, anxiety disorders, diseases of the digestive system, drug and alcohol addiction. If the treatment of the disease is not prescribed in a timely manner, the disorder can lead to serious mental disorders and provoke self-harm and even suicide attempts. It is worth noting that this psychopathology is rather difficult to diagnose, as it can proceed in various forms.
The first symptoms usually appear in childhood and adolescence, less often at a young age after twenty years. And although the exact causes of the pathology have not yet been established, borderline personality disorder is quite common in modern medical practice. Naturally, it becomes extremely difficult to live with such a pathology, and therefore one should not ignore its early manifestations and neglect the help of appropriate specialists.
Provoking factors
According to the latest statistics, about two out of a hundred people suffer from borderline personality disorder in one way or another, but the causes of this condition have not yet been established. Scientists have found that a variety of external and internal factors can influence the development of psychopathology. A mental disorder can occur due to an imbalance of certain chemicals in the brain - neurotransmitters responsible for the regulation of emotional manifestations. Genetic causes and environment should also be taken into account. Many patients with this mental illness of the psyche in childhood had episodes of abuse, emotional, sexual or physical abuse, traumatic circumstances associated, for example, with the loss of a loved one, etc. Frequent stress and such character traits as increased anxiety and a tendency to depression can also contribute to the development of pathology.
So, based on the foregoing, a number of risk factors can be identified that contribute to the formation of borderline disorder in a person:
female;
the presence of close relatives with a similar disease;
childhood abuse or lack of parental attention;
experienced violence in any form;
low stress resistance;
low self-esteem, inferiority complex.
It is clear that some parts of the brain do not function properly in people with BPD, but it has not yet been established whether these disorders should be considered as a cause of the described psychopathology or its effect.
Disease manifestations
The first symptoms of the psychopathology under consideration usually make themselves felt in early childhood. Patients are characterized by reckless, impulsive behavior. By the age of twenty-five, the mental disorder is usually already formed completely, at the same age the risk of committing suicide is highest. In adults, the disorder becomes the cause of impulsivity, the inability to build stable relationships with others, and low self-esteem. Common signs of the disease also include a fear of loneliness, lack of individuality, and an inability to defend one's own point of view. Patients are literally deprived of the opportunity to live normally in society, which leads to the development of other mental disorders.
Persistent thought patterns or "early maladaptive patterns" that form from childhood in people with borderline personality disorder were formulated by psychotherapist Young, who developed a cognitive-behavioral approach to the treatment of personality disorders. These schemes gradually develop and remain with a person throughout his life in the absence of competent correction.
Young's early disataptive schemes characteristic of borderline personality disorder.
Borderline personality disorder is a diagnosis for people who have at least five of the following symptoms:
- repeated thoughts of suicide or attempted suicide;
- mood swings and inappropriate, overly violent, or inappropriate emotional responses;
- uncontrolled outbursts of anger and aggression;
- labile, often low self-esteem;
- impulsivity in behavior, which can manifest itself, for example, in sexual promiscuity, gambling addiction, uncontrolled eating behavior, etc.; feeling empty and bored;
- fear of being abandoned and alone;
- strained relationships with others, including family members;
- paranoid episodes bordering on psychosis.
All of these symptoms can be caused by even the smallest everyday circumstances. The patient may experience anger, for example, when his plans suddenly change for some reason or someone does not fulfill his requests, etc. It is important to understand that the manifestations characteristic of the described disease are not the result of the use of drugs, drugs or alcohol.
Suicidal behavior and other disorders
The majority of patients with borderline personality disorder have suicidal tendencies, with about 10% of them actually committing suicide. As a rule, they also had depression, which causes an unwillingness to live.
Also, borderline personality disorder can be accompanied by other psychopathological conditions that require adequate treatment: dysthymic disorder and other disorders associated with mood; neurogenic bulimia and other digestive disorders; bipolar disorder characterized by alternating depressive phases and episodes of mania; panic attacks and increased anxiety; attention deficit disorder; antisocial and dramatic personality disorder; dependence on alcohol or drugs.
Diagnostics
Borderline personality disorder is difficult to diagnose. Examination of patients includes a physical examination, a detailed study of the medical history and existing clinical manifestations. The clinician should consider the patient's symptoms and rule out other likely causes of behavioral and mood disorders. Thus, the diagnosis is made by identifying typical signs of psychopathology, as well as disorders that often accompany borderline personality disorder: drug or alcohol dependence, depression, bipolar or anxiety disorder, eating disorders, etc. Based on the characteristics of the course of the disease in a particular patient, the appropriate treatment is selected.
Therapy
Treating borderline personality disorder is often difficult and time-consuming, but with a competent approach to therapy, in most cases, it is possible to achieve stable results. The main therapeutic method that is most widely used in the fight against this problem is called dialectical-behavioral therapy.
An individual therapeutic program is drawn up by a specialist and has as its main goal a detailed discussion with the patient of his problems and the existing symptomatic manifestations. The patient is aware of and rethinks his own problems with the help of special meditative techniques. He also gradually learns to control his behavior and emotions, improves social skills, develops effective defense mechanisms that help to endure any negative situations associated with disappointment, anxiety, anger, etc.
Borderline personality disorder can be corrected in the course of individual or group psychotherapy sessions, which must be regular. In the course of family psychotherapy, the patient's relatives also teach the necessary support. In addition, competent drug treatment plays an important role on the path to recovery.
The drugs and their dosage are selected by the attending physician on an individual basis. As a rule, in the fight against the disease, antidepressants and antipsychotics are used, which promote the production of the neurotransmitters serotonin (the hormone of happiness) in the brain, which are necessary to normalize the emotional state and stabilize the patient's mood.
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