Borderline Personality Disorder: Symptoms and Treatment

Understanding borderline personality disorder is crucial — not only for those diagnosed with the condition, but for their loved ones, as well. It is a condition that often occurs alongside other disorders, such as bipolar disorder, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. Borderline personality disorder is sometimes misdiagnosed as one of these conditions.

Our providers focus on an accurate diagnosis of borderline personality disorder to ensure patients receive the individualized help they need. Treatment helps patients learn to cope with emotional stressors and maintain healthy relationships with themselves and their loved ones.

Our board-certified primary care providers can refer you for services at Beaufort Memorial Sea Island Psychiatry. Find a provider accepting new patients.

What Is Borderline Personality Disorder?

Borderline personality disorder is a condition that affects a person’s ability to regulate emotions. People with this form of mental illness experience bouts of intense emotions for extended periods of time, and returning back to a stable emotional baseline is difficult. These intense emotions can lead to impulsive behavior and rocky relationships. As people with borderline personality disorder struggle with self-regulating their emotions, they may also engage in dangerous behaviors, including self-harm or suicide attempts, after an emotionally triggering event.

Approximately 1.4% of people in the United States have borderline personality disorder. It’s more commonly diagnosed in women, but research suggests men and women may experience it at equal rates. In men, borderline personality disorder may be misdiagnosed as post-traumatic stress disorder or depression.

The exact causes of borderline personality disorder are unclear. However, research suggests that it can stem from a variety of factors. People with borderline personality disorder often have experienced early childhood trauma, such as abuse or abandonment. Research suggests that those who have a close family member with borderline personality disorder may also be more at risk of developing it.

Borderline Personality Disorder Symptoms

People with borderline personality disorder tend to feel very insecure in themselves and their personal relationships, while also experiencing intense emotions and mood swings. Some common symptoms include:

• Difficulty in personal relationships — People with borderline personality disorder often shift their perception of loved ones from idealization to devaluation. This can look like being best friends with somebody one day and hating them the next.
• Distorted self-image — It’s not uncommon for a person with borderline personality disorder to change opinions or values based on emotions. The person may also have moments of feeling “disconnected” from thoughts or the body.
• Extreme thoughts — While opinions, moods and values change frequently, people with borderline personality disorder may also see the world in black-and-white extremes, similar to the “splitting” that occurs in relationships.
• Fear of abandonment, either real or imagined, by loved ones —This fear can cause people with borderline personality disorder to make extreme efforts to avoid abandonment by friends and family, and they may be unable to tolerate being or feeling alone.
• Feelings of chronic boredom or emptiness
• Impulsive, potentially dangerous behaviors — These might include excessive spending, reckless driving, substance abuse or unsafe sex.
• Recurring self-harm behaviors, such as cutting
• Suicide attempts or threats

If you or someone you love is experiencing suicidal thoughts or self-harming behavior, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. You may also call or text 988 or chat online with 988Lifeline.org to connect with compassionate care and support for mental health-related distress.

Borderline Personality Disorder Treatment

Treatment for borderline personality disorder begins with an accurate diagnosis, because patients with the condition who are misdiagnosed with depression or another mental illness may not respond well to treatment.

Therapy can be very successful for people who have borderline personality disorder. Dialectal behavioral therapy, which was developed specifically for people with the condition, is a form of therapy that uses mindfulness and acceptance of one’s emotional state to control intense emotions, improve personal relationships and reduce dangerous behavior.

It is common for people with borderline personality disorder to also have other mental health concerns, so our mental health professionals focus on treating these conditions, as well. We promote a holistic mind-body connection to help people with borderline personality disorder lead a better quality of life with improved relationships with themselves and others.