People with BPD experience their emotions very strongly. They can find it hard to manage their distress and may use strategies such as self-harm or substance use in response to strong emotions. Many people with BPD experience difficulties in relationships due to poor self-worth, fear of abandonment or a tendency to fluctuate between idealising and devaluing others. Underneath this can be a very poor sense of self, emptiness and a tendency to self-invalidate.

No two people with BPD are the same and the condition can present differently in different people. The biosocial theory of BPD (Linehan, 1993) suggests that BPD develops in individuals who have biological emotional sensitivity who are then consistently exposed to an invalidating environment that doesn't understand their emotions. Many people with BPD have experienced complex trauma and for some people the two are hard to separate.

Therapy is the treatment of choice for people with BPD. Although therapy can be challenging and make take some years, the prognosis is good. Many people who engage with evidence-based treatments over a period of time will recover.

Evidence-based therapies for people with BPD include dialectical behaviour therapy (see separate article on this website), schema therapy and mentalisation based therapy. Therapies ideally involve the family/support system and if you have a loved one with BPD there is support available.

The Australian BPD Foundation is a good source of information: https://www.bpdfoundation.org.au/

For further information on BPD treatment or therapy, please contact Virginia on virginia.pulker@gmail.com or 0476 674 094.

Or, for further general information please contact us.

References:
American Psychiatric Association DSM-5 Task Force. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental disorders: DSM-5TM, 5th Ed. Arlington, VA, US: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc.
Linehan, M. (1993). Cognitive-behavioural treatment of borderline personality disorder. New York: New York: Guildford Press.