Borderline Personality Disorder
Do You Struggle With Symptoms Of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)?
Have volatile moods, extreme reactions, or a lack of emotional regulation caused escalating issues in your relationships? Do you have trouble managing your temper and stress response? Have those close to you ever described you as emotionally intense or highly sensitive?
Despite wanting positive outcomes, you may struggle to behave in ways that promote peace, calm, and healthy responses. Regularly feeling angry and hostile, you may have a hard time keeping a lid on your emotions. Add these feelings to a tendency to be impulsive, and you probably notice that you’re quick to lash out at those close to you.
When you experience so many abrupt shifts in your mood, co-occurring symptoms of depression and anxiety—including immense sadness—are likely to surface. Often lonely and isolated, you may have developed an intense fear of abandonment. Whether such abandonment is real or perceived, you might feel the need to take extreme measures to ensure that you won’t be left behind.
It’s exhausting to live like this on a day-to-day basis, and you probably wish you could just have a “normal” response to distress. Tired of feeling like you’re stuck on an emotional roller coaster, all you want is to escape the intense loneliness and mood swings.
Even If You Don’t Have A Diagnosis Of BPD, Certain Symptoms Might Create Distress
You may be familiar with a condition called borderline personality disorder, or BPD. Symptoms of BPD include a lack of emotional regulation, explosive angry episodes, impulsivity, self-destructive behaviors, and suicidal threats or ideation. These symptoms naturally have an effect on an individual’s relationships, as frequent conflict and a fear of abandonment are especially indicative of borderline personality disorder.
Regardless of if you’ve been diagnosed with BPD or have always suspected that there is an underlying explanation to your severe mood swings, therapy can help. In borderline personality disorder treatment, you can learn to feel in control again.
Though BPD Is A Relatively New Diagnosis, Research Shows That It’s Particularly Prevalent Among Women
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) estimates that 6 percent of the American population has borderline personality disorder. Of that 6 percent, at least three-quarters of the individuals diagnosed are women. It’s not completely clear why women are more likely to develop BPD, but factors like neglect and emotional, physical, or sexual trauma and abuse may contribute to symptoms. Statistically speaking, survivors of such traumas tend to be women.
Borderline personality disorder is also more likely to occur in individuals with a family history of BPD. And some researchers theorize that BPD is often a combination of a highly sensitive personality and an invalidating early home environment. Though BPD can be diagnosed at any age, symptoms usually arise in adolescence or young adulthood.
BPD Symptoms Can’t Be Managed Alone
Unfortunately, borderline personality disorder clouds judgment and impulse control, which makes managing this condition challenging. As a result, individuals with BPD can lack proper coping, communication, and regulation skills. Consistency is key to targeting BPD symptoms, so it’s important to work with a therapist who can provide structure and accountability in a nonjudgmental atmosphere.
As a borderline personality disorder specialist, I can offer you the space you need to explore your experiences, regulate your emotions, and heal your relationships—including that which you have with yourself.
Treatment For Borderline Personality Disorder Exists
When managing your emotions feels impossible, it’s important to come to a safe space where you can feel supported through times of distress. Therapy helps people with BPD by providing a neutral environment where they can develop effective coping and regulation strategies. Working together, we can define goals and chart the path toward a brighter future.
The Therapeutic Process
The first session of counseling for BPD is spent getting to know you. As your therapist, my role in treatment is to offer you a therapeutic relationship that can in and of itself be healing. In building a trusting, consistent, and nurturing rapport, I can help you understand your borderline personality disorder and collaborate with you on individualized tools for managing it.
Because I am a solution-oriented therapist, I believe you are ultimately the expert on your life and experience of BPD. I will empower you to identify your strengths and resources for when feelings of distress take over. Together, we can determine what elements are changeable and in your control at certain moments—and when unhealthy patterns or behaviors are at risk of compromising your response.
In addition, I will likely incorporate elements of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and schema-focused therapy into borderline personality disorder treatment. These approaches can be particularly useful in BPD counseling because they address behaviors and reactions in the moment while also healing wounds from childhood. As a trauma-informed therapist, I can help you navigate the abusive, neglectful, or inconsistent relationships at the core of your symptoms.
With the insights you gain in treatment for borderline personality disorder, you will have greater self-awareness, improved emotion regulation, better stress response, and healthier relationships. Instead of feeling angry, fearful, and isolated, you can begin to feel more satisfied with yourself and others.
Healing is a marathon, not a sprint, but borderline personality disorder is highly treatable. With the early intervention and consistent support of a therapist, you can overcome symptoms of BPD and thrive.
Maybe You Suspect You Have BPD But Don’t Know If Therapy Is Right For You…
I don’t want to be seen as “crazy” for seeking BPD treatment.
People with BPD experience difficulty admitting they need help because they don’t want to be seen as unfit or incapable of solving problems on their own. Yet, the truth is that all kinds of people seek therapy for a variety of reasons—whether it’s to gain more insight, self-awareness, or coping skills.
All of us encounter challenges and can benefit from the professional support of a therapist. The idea that life is meant to be managed solely on one’s own is antiquated and doesn’t honor the healing value of relationships.
I am afraid to be diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.
In general, I prefer not to diagnose my clients—and in fact, this is one of the main reasons I choose not to work with insurance companies. They usually require some kind of diagnosis and I’d rather treat you, not a condition.
Unless you are curious about a potential diagnosis of borderline personality disorder, we won’t put a label on you. Instead, we will focus on treating the specific symptoms and behaviors that are causing distress.
Treatment for borderline personality disorder sounds expensive.
If you’re concerned about the expense of therapy, I encourage you to think about the cost of not doing anything. Where will you be in two, three, or ten years if you continue to repeat the same patterns keeping you stuck in pain and distress?
Therapy is ultimately an investment in yourself and your future—leading to a happier, healthier, and more conscious existence.
You Have More Strength, Control, And Awareness Than You Think
To find out more, I invite you to schedule a free consultation via email or by visiting the contact page on my site.
