I know, BPD is something that for a while now has been getting a lot more attention which is good. People are trying to understand it and well, that helps those with it in big ways.
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is something that most people do not understand. It is a disorder that affects a lot of people and people with BPD struggle with a lot of things. Sometimes these people come across as very unstable and their emotions are all over the place, to say the least.
Psychology Today describes BPD as follows and sums it up quite well:
Borderline personality disorder is a chronic condition that may include mood instability, difficulty with interpersonal relationships, and high rates of self-injury and suicidal behavior.
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by pervasive instability in moods, interpersonal relationships, self-image, and behavior. This instability often disrupts family and work life, long-term planning, and an individual’s sense of identity.
People with BPD, originally thought to be at the “border” of psychosis and neurosis, suffer from difficulties with emotion regulation. While less well known than schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, BPD affects 2 percent of adults. People with BPD exhibit high rates of self-injurious behavior, such as cutting and elevated rates of attempted and completed suicide. Impairment from BPD and suicide risk are greatest in the young-adult years and tend to decrease with age. BPD is more common in women than in men, with 75 percent of cases diagnosed among women.
People with borderline personality disorder often need extensive mental health services and account for 20 percent of psychiatric hospitalizations. Yet, with help, the majority stabilize and lead productive lives.
I recently came across a graphic or diagram/chart on Instagram that really got me thinking about BPD and how people think of it. It’s not just someone freaking out all the time or being manipulative over the top. It is so much more than that and most people try to categorize all of the small things as one big thing and it really throws people off. As you can see below in the charts, there is a lot more to BPD than just those two things.
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BPD is dissociation, self-harm thoughts and sometimes actions, extreme thinking, self-doubt, and so much more. It’s not something those who do not have it will ever fully understand but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be there as best we can for the people we know who have it. It is manageable on some levels and the people who have it do not deserve to be cast aside as if they are monsters because they’re not monsters.
To learn more about BPD take a look at the video below. It’s not as simple as you might think it is and the people with it are fighting hard to function as best they can. They are not perfect and neither is anyone else. We all need to work harder to destigmatize different mental health issues.