Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is experienced by people in a variety of different ways. The most notable symptom of BPD is an inability to sustain and maintain healthy relationships. Another noted symptom of BPD is in the individual's way of thinking that manifests itself in a 'black and white' means. With individuals that have BPD they see all or nothing with very little or no gray area. This is because they are unable to distinguish the difference between their own perceptions of the world, and the actual realities of their environment. It is these misperceptions accompanied by their black and white thinking that leads individuals to their unstable relationships. Treating these individuals is very difficult, and as with most personality disorders, psychotherapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy is the preferred treatment choice in overcoming this disorder. Medications can be helpful to some individuals, however coping mechanisms and the regulation of emotions must still be developed through psychotherapy.

Because of the all-or-nothing black and white train of thought for individuals with BPD, therapists and professionals dealing with these individuals need to be a rock when treating this disorder. The individual has instable emotions and instable thinking styles, and the therapist needs to consistently prove to their client that the psychotherapy environment is stable. Even experienced psychotherapists can become frustrated working with an individual with BPD because the individual will place heavy emotional demands on the practitioner that are often unstable. In fact, it has been said that working with individuals with BPD is one of the most difficult treatment programs to implement.

Despite the fact that individuals with BPD have an inability to sustain relationships, group therapy is often very effective. One of the most successful approaches in psychotherapy today for BPD is an approach initiated by Marsha Linehan known as Dialectical Behavior Therapy. This dialectical therapy works to teach individuals how to take control over their lives in an emotionally healthy way. The therapist works in the group to restructure cognitions, or thinking patterns, and also to help individuals learn to regulate their emotions and alleviate impulsivities. This dialectical therapy is someone intense and complex, so individuals that are unable to grasp new concepts, or refuse to, may not be the best candidates for this therapy.

As mentioned, Borderline Personality Disorder is one of the most difficult personality disorders to treat. The very definition of personality disorders is that they represent an inability to cope socially or can not handle their own stress and emotions. This leads them to react emotionally and cognitively to the stressful events in their lives. Because of this extensive set of distortions both emotionally and cognitively within an individual, psychotherapy treatment should be lengthy and last for at least a year. Treatment should be well-structured and solution-based so that the individual can feel progress every step of the way.