BODERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER (BPD)

BPD is a disorder that makes someone react and think differently to other people around them. It makes interactions with other people hard, as your reaction would be completely different to someone else. It is also to do with emotions and feeling, which then make the reaction differ to that of someone who is not dealing with BPD.

On the NHS website the symptoms are : (https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/borderline-personality-disorder/)

The symptoms of BPD can be grouped into 4 main areas:

emotional instability – the psychological term for this is affective dysregulation
disturbed patterns of thinking or perception – cognitive distortions or perceptual distortions
impulsive behaviour
intense but unstable relationships with others

‘The symptoms of a personality disorder may range from mild to severe and usually emerge in adolescence, persisting into adulthood.’

Further symptoms found on the HelpGuide website are : ( https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-disorders/borderline-personality-disorder.htm)

Fear of Abandonment
Unstable relationships
Unclear or shifting self image
Impulsive, self destructive behaviour
Self harming
Extreme emotional swings
Chronic feelings of emptiness
Explosive anger
Feeling suspicious or out of touch with reality

The emotions ate heightened, for example what would be slight anger in someone without BPD would be pure rage with no control with someone suffering. It makes people suffering more vulnerable, as in situations they can not grasp how to react as how they’re feeling is so much stronger.

I know someone who has suffered with this disorder, and it usually stems from abandonment issues, or abuse of some kind from a young age. I said that I would not mention names, but she gave me permission to say her story.

When she was young she had a step father who looked after her most of the time, due to her mum working long shifts. He wasn’t very nice to her because she was clever and obviously not his child. He would emotionally abuse her everyday, sometimes was physical with her, and would leave her for long times in her room on her own. The girl that I am speaking about is one of the strongest people I know, but due to this occurring in her young life, it has caused her to suffer now she is a young adult, as she has been diagnosed with BPD and finds it hard to gage with people in conversation without reacting in what others would think is an abnormal way.

The time to find help is when you feel that it is hindering and giving you a poor quality of life.

Sometimes the best way to overcome it, is by accepting the emotions you are feeling, and dealing with them as calmly as you can. There is treatments that you can undergo, such a psychological treatments- therapy, which will help you work with your emotions and talk about them instead of dealing with it alone. Sometimes being able to talk to someone openly about how you feel could help you the most. Even if what you’re feeling is not the same as others, talking about it will allow someone to understand the emotions you are feeling and then be able to find ways to help you deal with or overcome these different emotions you are feeling.