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Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)



What is borderline personality disorder (BPD)?

Borderline Personality Disorder or BPD is a common mental health disorder that can be treated. It impacts the way you think and feel about yourself and others, which causes problems functioning in everyday life. BPD will often cause self-image issues, difficulty managing emotions and behaviour, and a pattern of unstable relationships.

You may have an intense fear of abandonment or instability and have difficulty tolerating being alone. You may experience intense mood swings and your feelings for others can change quickly, swinging from intense closeness to extreme dislike. These feelings can lead to unstable relationships and emotional pain.


You may view everything in extremes, sometimes called black and white thinking, where something is either all good or all bad. Other signs or symptoms may include efforts to avoid real or perceived abandonment, such as plunging headfirst into relationships or ending them just as quickly, a pattern of intense and unstable relationships with family, friends and loved ones, impulsive and often dangerous behaviours such as spending sprees, unsafe sex, substance abuse, reckless driving and binge eating, feeling empty, self-harming behaviour, recurring thoughts of suicidal behaviours or threats, intense and highly variable moods, chronic feelings of emptiness, inappropriate, intense anger or problems controlling anger, or feelings of dissociation, such as feeling cut off from oneself.


It is the most common personality disorder in Australia, affecting about 1 to 4 in every 100 people at some time in their lives. It's more common in women, and usually the symptoms appear in the teenage years or early adulthood.


Borderline personality disorder and other mental illnesses.

BPD often occurs with other mental illnesses such as PTSD, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, substance abuse, or eating disorders. Certain events during childhood may also play a role in the development of the disorder, such as those involving emotional, physical and sexual abuse. When these illnesses are co-occurring disorders can make it harder to diagnose and treat BPD, especially if the symptoms are overlapping.



How does borderline personality disorder impact life?

BPD can impact many aspects of your life as it can negatively affect intimate relationships, jobs, school, social activities and self-image.


These impacts may include repeated job changes or losses, not completing an education, multiple legal issues such as jail time, conflict-filled relationships, self-harming, involvement in abusive relationships, unplanned pregnancies, risky and impulsive behaviour, suicide attempts.


What treatments are available?

The most effective treatments for BPD are psychological therapies as they can help you learn to better understand and mange your feelings, and how you respond to people and situations.

Many therapists use parts of these different therapies in more traditional one-on-one therapy sessions: dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT), schema therapy, mentalisation based therapy (MBT), psychodynamic therapy, and cognitive analytic therapy (CAT).


In some cases, medication can be prescribed to treat specific symptoms or co-occurring mental health conditions.


Over time, many people with BPD overcome their symptoms and recover. Additional treatment is recommended for people whose symptoms return.


Our support team can help you in your everyday life to experience a greater quality of life by ensuring you’re eating healthy, nutritious meals, attending appointments, keeping yourself and home clean and hygienic, as well as accessing the community and rebuilding interpersonal skills.


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