Personality disorder :What Families Need to Know about the symtpoms

Selasa, 05 Januari 2010

• Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a serious and complex disorder affecting an estimated 1%–2% of the general population.
• The name borderline refers to the original notion that the disorder lies in between or on the border with the psychotic and neurotic mental disorders.
• The core symptoms common to most people with BPD are disturbed, unstable relationships with other people; emotional dysregulation (the inability to control mood or feelings); and impulsive behavior.
• Although BPD has some features in common with other personality disorders and with mood disorders (such as anxiety and depression), it is distinct from them.
• Women receive a diagnosis of BPD more frequently than men do, and this may be the result of biological and sociocultural factors. A partial explanation of this difference may be that women seek help more often than men for psychological problems.
• Although early reports suggested that those with BPD had a history of physical or sexual abuse, large-scale studies of child abuse in the general population show that 80% of adults with abuse histories do not develop any psychological problems.
• The current hypothesis (theory) suggests that individuals may be genetically prone to developing BPD and that certain stressful events may trigger the onset of BPD.