Borderline Personality Disorder Analysis

Borderline personality disorder (BDP) is characterized as “an instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked by impulsivity that begins by early adulthood and is present in a variety of contexts” (APA, 2013, p. 663). Borderline personality disorder is present in about 6 percent of primary care patients and in 15 to 20 percent of patients in psychiatric hospitals and outpatient clinics. In clinical settings, about 75 percent of people with this disorder are female (Gunderson, J. G. 2011). Suicidal and self-inflicting behaviors are quite prevalent in those with borderline personality disorder; affecting 69 to 75 percent of patients with this diagnosis (Berzoff, J., Flanagan, L. M., & Hertz, P., 2016, p. 373). …show more content…
One key external factor to consider when diagnosing Borderline Personality Disorder is trauma. Frequently, clients--especially women--have been diagnosed with BPD without considering their past traumas. Therefore, some of these clients in fact suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder rather than Borderline Personality Disorder. When these clients are then treated for PTSD, many of their symptoms for BPD subside (Berzoff, J., et al., 2016, p. …show more content…
Sandra, a young woman who had been in treatment for three months, was on the other end of the line. Through intermittent sobs, she told the therapist that a man to whom she was attracted had ignored her at a concert earlier that evening and that she was sitting on the bathroom floor with a bottle of aspirin in her hands. “I can’t hold on to anything good anymore,” she said. “If I take all the aspirin, the pain will disappear real fast...When I get close to guys, they leave me. Then the little hurt sets off the big hurts, and I feel like total shit. Like what’s happening in me will destroy any relationship. When I look at myself, I see a crippled mess. Like I’m running a race with my feet tied. I don’t have normal hurts. I feel I have all the outside things. Inside I’m crummy” (Berzoff, J., et al., 2016, p.

Show More