Borderline Personality Disorder Is A Real Mental Illness
I continue to receive lots of questions and comments about whether borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a "real" mental illness. These questions are understandable; BPD has a very long history of being misunderstood, and unfortunately there are even well-respected and well-meaning practitioners who do not fully understand the disorder and perpetuate the myth that BPD is somehow not "real."
My firm stand is that BPD is a very real and serious mental illness, and I am not alone. It is not a “personality problem” or just a set of maladaptive ways of coping with the world. BPD is the result of a combination of biological, genetic and environmental causes. It is recognized as a psychiatric disorder in the official guidebook used by mental health providers to diagnose mental illness (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) and is severe enough to warrant being designated as a “serious mental illness” by the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
What do you think about this issue? Do you view BPD as a legitimate mental illness? Have you had experiences in which someone suggested that BPD is not a real disorder? Leave a comment below....
Comments
Having been misdiagnosed as a BPD suffering individual I had my misconceptions about this disease. It was very painful to receive such a death sentence when for 27 years I lived a normal and productive life with meaningful relationships and a stable marriage. After a bout with post-partum depression and a string of disastrous events I unraveled in an emotional level and everything suffered, I became suicidal and in 2 hours over a suicide watch at an ER an intern diagnosed me as a BPD. With this label my life descended to a pit of nothingness, it was not until I demanded to get a second opinion and a battery of tests (all 5 hours worth) that I learned my official diagnosis was Anxiety Disorder NOS, and that yes, I do have maladaptive tendencies under severely stressful situation. Sadly, my husband is going trough the same thing now. A string of disastrous events have thrown him into a severe depression and his coping mechanisms mimic those of people with BPD. So, I wonder if we all have the potential to display this highly scary behaviors when a perfect storm ensues…
Time Magazine recently did an article on BPD, and (as someone being treated under that diagnosis) I was none too thrilled with the sensationalism it seemed to be written around. “Death sentence” is not only a sensational way to describe an illness that is being (in multiple cases) treated successfully through Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, but it’s also very disheartening, and psychologically threatening to those struggling through it.
I am 27 years old, and I am not dead, nor do I consider myself dying. I lead a full life, and I am learning to deal with the everyday pain in healthy ways. It’s a struggle, but it is not a death sentence, and I resent anyone who chooses to label it as such.
And, whether or not the disease (or label) is “real” seems moot. The symptoms ARE real. There are many who feel the symptoms on many different levels, and adding stigma to the already stigmatized field of behavioral and personality disorders seems anti-productive at this point.
Treat the symptoms, treat the patient, and maybe one day the stigma will take care of itself.