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.
Comments
Post a Comment