What to Know About Borderline Personality Disorder
Post Date: Jul 03, 2024
Behavioral Health
Borderline personality disorder is a mental illness that makes it hard to be in control of your emotions, often leading to impulsive actions and relationship difficulties. Fortunately, treatment can help you manage the symptoms. Here are some things to look for if you think this mental health condition might be impacting you.
Struggling with a mental health disorder? Help for Montanans is available, regardless of your ability to pay. Get help now.
Who is impacted by borderline personality disorder?
Unlike many other disorders that begin early in life, signs of borderline personality disorder often don’t appear until early adulthood. The condition tends to be most serious at that age, especially when it comes to symptoms of anger, impulsiveness, and mood swings. However, it can sometimes be diagnosed in people under 18 if their symptoms are serious and last over a year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
Signs and symptoms of borderline personality disorder
It’s common for borderline personality disorder to occur alongside other mental illnesses, like PTSD, anxiety disorders, substance use disorder, depression, eating disorders, or bipolar disorder.
The symptoms of borderline personality disorder can be diverse. According to the Mayo Clinic, you may experience risky or impulsive behavior like:
Reckless driving
Spending too much money
Self-sabotage
Binging on food
Abusing drugs and alcohol
Symptoms often involve a strong fear of abandonment, which can include going to extreme measures to make sure others don’t leave you, even when those fears of abandonment are unfounded. Symptoms might also include self-harm or threat of suicide, which often goes along with fear of rejection or separation.
You might also experience sudden changes to how you view yourself or rapid changes to goals and values. This could include mood swings, feelings of emptiness, losing your temper often (and possibly getting into physical fights), and periods of stress-related paranoia that may go on for a few minutes or a few hours. It can also involve losing touch with reality or a pattern of unstable relationships, among other symptoms.
Where to find treatment for BPD in Montana
If you notice any of the above symptoms or actions, and they impact your life in a negative way, it’s important to reach out for help. Don’t wait for an emergency for you to start improving your situation.
If you’re in crisis or thinking of harming yourself or others, call 911 or call or text 988 (the national suicide and crisis lifeline) right away.
Even if you’re not currently in crisis but you’re feeling the impact of borderline personality disorder symptoms, you can still benefit from treatment. Reach out to your primary care provider about available options, or seek out behavioral health counseling from a licensed and trained mental health professional at Community Health Partners.
How behavioral health services can help
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) was developed to treat borderline personality disorder. By focusing on mindfulness and awareness of your present state, DBT can help you manage your emotions. It also teaches skills that can help you improve your relationships and reduce self-destructive behaviors.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) also can help you identify and change behaviors or beliefs caused by borderline personality disorder. This can help reduce anxiety and mood swings and reduce self-harm or suicidal behaviors, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
To access affordable care for your mental and physical health in Montana, make an appointment at a CHP clinic in Bozeman, Belgrade, or Livingston, with behavioral health services also available in West Yellowstone.