Borderline personality disorder(BPD) is an often profoundly misunderstood mental health condition commonly conflated withbipolar disorder.
In reality, its an entirely different mental illness.
The signs need to be extraordinary and persistent for meet the criteria for this condition.
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For instance, people with BPD dont just experience mood changes.
BPD is thought to affect about 1 percent of people in the United States.
The 2007 National Comorbidity Survey Replication published inBiological Psychiatryoffers an estimate of how many people have BPD.
People with BPD often have other mental health conditions.
According toThe National Comorbidity Survey Replication, 84.5 percent of respondents with BPD had a co-occurring mental health disorder.
The relationship between BPD and other conditions is not completely understood.
Borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder are not the same thing.
They do share some significant similarities, namely thatbipolar disorderalso causes extreme shifts in mood and behavior.
People with BPD may turn to self-harm because it feels like instantaneous relief for heightened emotions, Perepletchikova explains.
There is no single cause of BPD, but experts believe there are several key risk factors involved.
Some experts advocate for diagnosing BPD in adolescents while others prefer to wait until adulthood.
There has been general hesitation to diagnose personality disorders in those under 18.
With that said, clinicians are discovering that BPDcan be detected in children and adolescents.
The earlier we intervene, the more likely we are to help, Dixon-Gordon explains.
The first-line treatment for BPD istherapy.
This is why therapists treating BPD typically emphasize acceptance and validation, Perepletchikova says.
There are not any medications specifically recommended to treat BPD.
There simply arent yet clear enough benefits to using medications as the primary treatment for BPD, theNIMHexplains.
BPD is often stigmatized, even among healthcare providers.
Laypeople can believe these myths, too.
People with BPD can be empathetic and lovely individuals.
Extreme emotional sensitivity presents with serious challenges, but there are also benefits, Perepletchikova says.
This is part of the reason that Perepletchikova says people with BPD are her favorite population to treat.
They are really fun, creative, compassionate, beautiful people, she explains.
With solid therapy and hard work, the long-term outlook for people with BPD can be bright.
Research shows that the remission rates are incredibly high, Dixon-Gordon says.
(The researchers defined remission as meeting two or fewer BPD criteria.)
Most of that change occurred in the earlier years, the study authors said.
BPD does not have to define [you], Dixon-Gordon says.
Its treatable, and theres help out there.
