What is Borderline Personality Disorder?

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a mental health condition that is often defined by emotional instability, impulsiveness, problems with relationships, and stress-related changes in behavior.

BPD can seriously impact the way you see yourself and most importantly the way one interacts with other people. It can also make it very challenging to respond to stressful situations in a productive way. People with BPD often find that their symptoms make it harder to hold down a job & maintain healthy relationships with people.

The only way to be diagnosed with BPD is by a medical professional, in particular a psychologist. Usually, the first line of treatment for BPD is psychotherapy. Psychotherapy is also known as talk therapy, the goal of talk therapy is to help people understand their feelings and equip them with the skills to face any new challenges that may happen in the future.

It is very important to educate yourself about what a diagnosis of BPD means for you. It is a very good idea to have an understanding of the symptoms of your condition so you will easily be able to recognize them & cope with them more easily. Doing some research on websites is a good start to educate yourself. Some good online resources are:

• National Alliance on Mental Illness

• MentalHealth.gov

• National Institute of Mental Health

There are also some very good books available to help you learn about your condition:

• "I Hate You - Don't Leave Me: Understanding the Borderline Personality" by Jerold J. Kreisman & Hal Straus
• "The Borderline Personality Disorder Workbook: An Integrative Program to Understand & Manage Your BPD" by Daniel Fox