A personality disorder is a type of mental health problem which effects a person’s thoughts, beliefs, behaviours and attitudes. Borderline personality disorder is a type of personality disorder which may cause many difficulties; both for the person being affected by it and also for the person’s relatives. Having a personality disorder does not mean that the person has a broken personality, because we all have feelings which can be useful at times and a problem at others. Our behaviour, which may be influenced by both our positive and negative personality traits, can also be productive at times but destructive at others. However, BPD might cause intense thoughts and feelings which stop people from living their life as they would like to.
Some of the symptoms of BPD might be: having feelings of emptiness, finding it hard to keep stable relationships, feeling worried about people abandoning you, having very intense emotions which can change quickly, and doings things which could harm you (such as binge eating, driving dangerously etc..) Other symptoms might be feeling very angry and struggling to control your anger, feeling paranoid, feeling distraught, and not remembering things properly after they’ve happened. Sometimes BPD may cause a person to engage in self-harming behaviour (such as using drugs and cutting themselves) or to have suicidal thoughts.
It is very important to understand that a person suffering from BPD might not necessarily experience all of these symptoms. BPD can be a very broad diagnosis and include many people with very different experiences. Some people who suffer from BPD and seek professional support are able to manage the condition very well and lead a healthy and fulfilling life.
Claire is a gestalt psychotherapist at Willingness. She works with adolescents and adults. She has a special interest in mental health. She can be contacted on claire@willingness.com.mt.
You can visit her profile on: https://zme.tec.mybluehost.me/willingnessmt/team/claire-borg/