About borderline personality disorder.

What is it?BPD is a serious mental illness, that can cause a huge impact on the patients life, and often comes hand-in-hand with other mental illnesses such as depression, eating disorders and anxiety.

Symptoms of BPD include:
 

•  Extreme changed in mood, that are often rapid. 

• Suicidal thoughts/attempts. 

• Self destructive behaviours such as self harm, drug or alcohol abuse. 

• Fear of abandonment

• Unstable sense of self and identity.  

• Difficulty making or maintaining relationships. 

• Reckless behaviour. 

• Feelings of emptiness

What is the cause of BPD?There is no solid evidence for what causes BPD, but researchers believe its a mixture of genetics and trauma in early life. Stressful life situations can often bring out or worsen the symptoms of BPD.
How to get help

• Talk to your doctor and ask to see a psychiatrist for a diagnoses, if you think that would be useful. 

• Research the different therapies available on the NHS if you are in the UK, such as Cognitive behavioural therapy. However the waiting list may be long and there may be more effective forms of therapy that you can get privately like Dialectical behavioural therapy which was designed for patients with borderline personality disorder.  

• Talk to a trusted friend or family member about your concerns and example about the condition so they can research the best way to support you. 

• Look into medication, there are a number of different ones you can try. (talk to your doctor)

• If your feeling really suicidal, call the Samaritans on  08457 90 90 90

Useful contacts:

• The Samaritans -  08457 90 90 90

• www.mind.org.uk (for information and advice)

• http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/borderline-personality-disorder/Pages/Introduction.aspx (The NHS website)

• Time to change blogs : http://www.time-to-change.org.uk/category/blog/borderline-personality-disorder