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Borderline Personality
Symptoms of BPD are:
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Mood swings
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Periods of intense
depression, irritability, and/or anxiety lasting from a few
hours to a few days
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Inappropriate, intense or
uncontrolled anger
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Impulsiveness in spending,
sex, substance use, shoplifting, reckless driving, or binge
eating
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Recurring suicidal threats or
self-injurious behavior
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Unstable, intense personal
relationships
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Extreme black and white views
of people and experiences, sometimes alternating between “all
good” idealization and “all bad” devaluation
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Persistent uncertainly about
self-image, long term goals, friendships and values
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Chronic boredom or feelings
of emptiness
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Frantic efforts to avoid real
or imagined abandonment
Treatment for BPD
Medication
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Reduces anxiety, depression
and impulsivity
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Helps one deal with harmful
patterns of thinking and interacting
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Fails to correct ingrained
character difficulties
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Antidepressants
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Anticonvulsants
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Neuroleptics
Psychotherapy
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Short-term hospitalization
when necessary during times of extreme stress, impulsivity, or
substance abuse
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Generally difficult and long
term
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BPD symptoms often interfere
with therapy
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Usually effective
What is BPD?
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Fairly common biologically
based disorder
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Characterized by impulsivity
and instability in mood, self-image and personal relationships
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Diagnosed more often in
females than in males
Causes of BPD
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Unclear, but psychological
and biological factors may be involved
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Originally thought to border
on schizophrenia
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Related to serious depressive
illness
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Associated with neurological
and attention deficit disorders
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Difficulties in psychological
development during childhood due to such things as abuse or
neglect may create identity and personality problems
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More research is needed
Simultaneously present
disorders
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