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Busting Myths about Borderline Personality Disorder

Tanya Battiwalla


Borderline Personality Disorder is included in a cluster of disorders in which people tend to be dramatic, emotional, and erratic (Butcher, 2017). According to the book Abnormal Psychology (2017), people with the disorder may show symptoms such as impulsivity and instability in interpersonal relationships, their self-image, and their moods. They might often experience feelings of emptiness and may be very fearful about being abandoned. Impulsivity and affective instability may lead them erratic and self-destructive behaviors.                                                                           The book also mentions that the disorder is often misunderstood and stigmatized. Awareness regarding myths and stereotypes of BPD is extremely important because as Paris (2007) mentions in an article, stigma about BPD is one of the reasons is one of the reasons clinicians choose not to diagnose BPD in patients; this may lead to the patient not receiving the right treatment. This article address a couple of myths and stereotypes about Borderline Personality Disorder and will attempt to debunk them. 



One of the widely believed myths about Borderline Personality Disorder is that it is caused by bad parenting. Not only is this a false a false claim, but it also wrongly implies that there is one direct cause leading to Borderline Personality Disorder. An experiment done by Winsper (2012), studied the kind of association maladaptive parenting and BPD have. The results suggested that ‘children from adverse family backgrounds who have experienced suboptimal parenting and parental conflict, have poor cognitive abilities and a DSM 4 diagnosis, are at increased risk of BPD symptoms.’ However, the results did not imply causation and did mention that other factors play a role in BPD. According the book Abnormal Psychology, a large number of studies show that people with the disorder report a large number of negative and traumatic events in childhood; these events may or may not be associated with parenting. Hence, suggesting that negative events in childhood have correlation with BPD, and not specifically bad parenting as BPD’s cause. Along with this, the book states that genes play a significant role in the BPD, in which case the negative environment in childhood increases the risk of the manifestation of BPD.

Another myth believed by many is that people diagnosed with BPD are violent and dangerous. Unfortunately, some people believe the stereotype that patient with BPD are violent and very aggressive, and hence a danger to other people. Kreisman (2013) says in an article that BPD patients are actually more likely to self-harm. He says that with the suicide rate increasing to 10%, self-harm is considered a much greater risk that threat to others. Gonzalez (2016) did a study on the association between BPD and violence, and inferred that association with serious and repeated violence was instead better explained by comorbid substance misuse, anxiety and antisocial personality disorder. He added that individual traits in patients showed different pathways to violence, from which we can infer that BPD may not be the cause for a patient being violent.

To add to the stigma, it is also widely believed that Borderline Personality Disorder is not treatable. This is a false claim which can have harmful consequences. Bressert (2018) mentioned in an article that treatments for this disorder include group and individual psychotherapy using dialectical behavior therapy; and DBT was specifically designed as a treatment method for this disorder. He also wrote that patients can be prescribed medicine to target specific symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder, providing some ease to the patient. In an article written by Deneve (2019), it is mentioned that although treatment can be slow, the success rate of borderline personality disorder treatment is about 50% over a 10 year period. Hence, it can be inferred that Borderline Personality Disorder may be slow to treat, nevertheless it is still treatable.

In conclusion, it is clear that certain popular beliefs about BPD are actually not true and that there is scientific research to falsify the myths. The myth that BPD is caused by bad parenting can be debunked as the causation for this disorder includes multiple factors which include traumatic childhood events, though not necessarily bad parenting. It can also be inferred that because of the high comorbidity of the disorder and the contribution of individual traits, one cannot generalize that all BPD patients are violent and dangerous. The belief that BPD is untreatable can also be disproved as there are treatment options such as dialectical behavior therapy which research studies have shown to be effective, even if they take time to show improvement in the patients. The myths about and stigma can be dangerous since they discourage clinicians from diagnosing the disorder, which may lead to wrong treatments being provided to the patients.




Works Cited

Bressert, Steve. An Overview of Borderline Personality Disorder. PsychCentral.






Butcher, James N. Abnormal Psychology.

Deveney, Renee. Borderline Personality Disorder Facts and Statistics.

Gonzalez, Rafael. Borderline personality disorder and violence in the UK population: categorical and dimensional trait assessment. BMC Psychiatry.

Kreisman, Jerold. Borderline Peronality and Violence. Psychology Today.


Paris, Joel. Why Psychiatrists are Reluctant to Diagnose.



Winsper, C. Prospective study of family adversity and maladaptive parenting in childhood and borderline personality disorder symptoms in a non-clinical population at 11 years. Psychological Medicine. 










Borderline Personality Disorder Facts and Statistics




Borderline Personality Disorder Facts and Statistics








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