# Borderline Personality Disorder



## kaycee (May 18, 2010)

Anyone here diagnosed with BPD?

Have you tried DBT? Has it helped?

Any other therapies that you have found helpful?


Also, if you have been diagnosed I'd be interested to know your MBTI.


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## conscius (Apr 20, 2010)

kaycee said:


> Anyone here diagnosed with BPD?
> 
> Have you tried DBT? Has it helped?
> 
> ...


I haven't but if you have, give DBT a try. It can help.


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## Introspiritual (Mar 12, 2010)

conscius said:


> I haven't but if you have, give DBT a try. It can help.


I've heard very good things about DBT as well.

I'm not sure if it relates to personality types that well - a current leading theory is that it's another form of PTSD. Anyone can be affected by that.


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## conscius (Apr 20, 2010)

Introspiritual said:


> I've heard very good things about DBT as well.
> 
> I'm not sure if it relates to personality types that well - a current leading theory is that it's another form of PTSD. Anyone can be affected by that.


yes, some have suggested that it's complex PTSD. Others disagree and see the two as separate.


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## JJMTBC (Jun 4, 2010)

DBT takes a lot of commitment. I used to work on an inpatient unit with individuals diagnosed with BPD as a therapist. There were around 30 individuals, and only 3 of them were successfully getting through the program. However, the unit is very very acute, and many of those individuals have been at the hospital for many years. 

In order for DBT to work, the individual must be completely invested and ready to change. I think there may be a correlation between ENFP and BPD just because we are always dwelling on the past and looking into the future. 
The most helpful thing about DBT is the "in-the-moment" thinking, or focusing on the "here-and-now."

My favorite DBT exercises are the Mindfullness exercises (Mindful eating or Mindful musical listening are some examples). They force you to use your senses, and focus on the here-and-now. I think that's why this model has been useful for PTSD also. 

Lastly, relaxation techniques and positive psychology are really useful for BPD.
I recommend "The Beethoven Factor" for a good positive psych book. 
For relaxation techniques, you can either google it, or google coping skills. I actually utilized these google searches for some of the groups I led. 

Good stuff!


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## jbking (Jun 4, 2010)

Not formally diagnosed but I do have some symptoms of it from time to time.

I've heard good things about DBT but it can be quite the commitment as well as the challenge of finding where there are programs for that kind of thing. I've read some ideas about it and found some of it useful for my life, particularly the being mindful and seeing how thoughts, emotions and behaviors mix together.

As for other therapies, cognitive behavior therapy can work too. I have some support groups that use CBT that are also quite helpful in some ways for dealing with some of this stuff though more of the Anxiety/Depression side than general BPD.

My MBTI is an INTJ, which can make some sense as I generally need structure and rules to follow and when they aren't there, watch out world, here I stumble, fumble and then some at ya! I'm also a bit of a perfectionist which is something else for me to resolve at some point in my life.


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## Nitou (Feb 3, 2010)

INTP. I was diagnosed with BPD at one time, but that was one of a few different diagnoses including depression, bipolar and schizo-affective disorder. I would like to have tried DBT but it was too expensive. Without any personal experience, my impression of it was that it was good for improving functionality and keeping you from killing yourself, but did little to relieve the chronic pain. Although, better life skills would help reduce your pain indirectly. I have learned a few techniques for mind-management from counseling and reading. 

One technique is that if you feel an urge to self-mutilate, instead you can hold ice on your wrist or snap it hard with a rubber band (or preferably the metal part of a hair tie, imo.) It helps release the endorphins and relieve the pain without leaving a wound. You might be able to eat hot chilis to the same effect.

To control dissociation, you could focus on an object that you have pre-planned to use as an anchor to the present. That object would be something the represents you, your current self or something that is important to you. It serves to remind you that you are not wherever it is your mind is trying to take you, but that you are _here_. _Now_. 

I used to have auditory hallucinations from time to time. Though it wasn't really bothersome, it is disconcerting to not know for sure whether or not something is real. I would hear muffled sounds of a radio or t.v., or the phone, or someone calling my name. First I would search for the source of the sound and if that failed I observed. The hallucinations typically had more noise and were less crisp in sound than real sounds, and sometimes they played in loops. 

It helps to observe your mental states and learn to detect when you are delusional. If you are a state of severe depression, anxiety or rage, you are probably not thinking rationally. Knowing that does not clear the fog, but at least it helps keep you from doing something stupid.


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## GrannyWeatherwax (Jun 8, 2010)

I'm diagnosed with BPD.
I'm an INFP, I have no idea if there's a connection, but they say that highly sensitive beings have a higher risk of developing BPD in certain conditions :mellow:

I'd like to try out DBT, but in my country it's not really that common yet, as far as I know.
In in a queue for treatment now, think I'll end up in group therapy or something like that...

BPD is not the same as PTSD. You can develope BPD without having experienced bad things.


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## kaycee (May 18, 2010)

I just know I can see some connections between the MBTI description of NFPs.


And if personality is developed by the time you are six, and most personality disorders develop in childhood as well, I would think there would be some sort of correlation.


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## claude (Aug 20, 2009)

I've been diagnosed as BPD and it seems like the list of INFP traits and indicators of BPD are more or less synonymous, atleast an unhealthy INFP. I havn't tried DBT, but I've been told it helps alot, I might go through a 6 week DBT program sometime in the future.


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## conscius (Apr 20, 2010)

JJMTBC said:


> DBT takes a lot of commitment. I used to work on an inpatient unit with individuals diagnosed with BPD as a therapist.* There were around 30 individuals, and only 3 of them were successfully getting through the program*. However, the unit is very very acute, and many of those individuals have been at the hospital for many years.


Yes, I agree that the patients in your unit do not represent the typical person with BPD. The average person with borderline personality does much better than that, and a much higher percentage of them stick to their therapy and do improve significantly. I just wanted to point this out in case some were disheartened by those statistics.



JJMTBC said:


> I think there may be a correlation between ENFP and BPD just because we are always dwelling on the past and looking into the future.


I don't think that kind of correlation can be made, to be honest with you. ENFP is descriptive and more related to temperaments but BPD refers to personality dynamics and structure.

However, you could look at it like this: people with temperaments where the "feeling" function dominate (IN*F*P, EN*F*P, IS*F*P, etc) are generally sensitive people. If raised in a conflict ridden family and if subject to emotional/psychology/physical abuse, they're _more_ likely to develop serious mental illness. For instance, some researchers suggest that childhood abuse is common in BPD patients.

(I have a degree in psychology)


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## GrannyWeatherwax (Jun 8, 2010)

conscius said:


> Yes, I agree that the patients in your unit do not represent the typical person with BPD. The average person with borderline personality does much better than that, and a much higher percentage of them stick to their therapy and do improve significantly. I just wanted to point this out in case some were disheartened by those statistics.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I agree!

I was extremely sensitive as a child.
I was never abused, but the family situation was very tense and stressful, and it affected me tremendously.
However I seldom told anyone how frightened and depressed I was because I was the good little girl who didn't want to cause any trouble.
Besides, I thought I was abnormal, and that everyone would be shocked and disappointed if I told anyone about how i felt.
And if I tried to tell even a little bit about how I felt, I wasn't really taken seriously. (This was actually because everyone was so stressed out and had their own problems, and couldn't really see how sensitive I was.) :mellow:


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## swingbeatnik (Jan 17, 2011)

What is DBT?

And yes, i'm INFP HSP with PTSD, and now they are looking at BPD possibily.


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## StandingTiger (Dec 25, 2010)

swingbeatnik said:


> What is DBT?


DBT = dialectical behavior therapy.


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## Devilsapple (Jun 17, 2010)

Nitou said:


> INTP. I was diagnosed with BPD at one time, but that was one of a few different diagnoses including depression, bipolar and schizo-affective disorder. I would like to have tried DBT but it was too expensive. Without any personal experience, my impression of it was that it was good for improving functionality and keeping you from killing yourself, but did little to relieve the chronic pain. Although, better life skills would help reduce your pain indirectly. I have learned a few techniques for mind-management from counseling and reading.
> 
> One technique is that if you feel an urge to self-mutilate, instead you can hold ice on your wrist or snap it hard with a rubber band (or preferably the metal part of a hair tie, imo.) It helps release the endorphins and relieve the pain without leaving a wound. You might be able to eat hot chilis to the same effect.
> 
> ...




I really relate to this. INTP is my type and I have been diagnoised with bpd, clinical depression and schitzotypal personality disorder. I have tried meds, not the one you mention but they did not seem to help, I use self management and smoke weed to reglulate my mood swings.


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## swingbeatnik (Jan 17, 2011)

I see, I used to smoke weed so I wouldn't dream as much. Now I don't really, that much lol, and I get vivid crazy dreams! I don't like it >.< But am learning and using coping skills.


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## Devilsapple (Jun 17, 2010)

swingbeatnik said:


> I see, I used to smoke weed so I wouldn't dream as much. Now I don't really, that much lol, and I get vivid crazy dreams! I don't like it >.< But am learning and using coping skills.



I have vivid dreams too and often times they are quite disturbing.


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## GrannyWeatherwax (Jun 8, 2010)

Devilsapple said:


> I have vivid dreams too and often times they are quite disturbing.


Me too.
And they got even worse after I started on medication :mellow:


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## Devilsapple (Jun 17, 2010)

GrannyWeatherwax said:


> Me too.
> And they got even worse after I started on medication :mellow:



Oh. I never though about the fact that meds could have an effect on that, I never paid attention but it seems like I dreampt less on meds..I like vivid and interesting dreams, but sometimes my dreams are very violent, not violent towards me, but me acting out violently against others. Those are the ones that really bug me.


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## swingbeatnik (Jan 17, 2011)

I get extremely weird, and scary dreams while on Xanax. This may all be because I am able to rest and go into a deeper sleep; meaning more dreams, and they just so happen to be effed up lol. Of course they doesn't bother me when I wake up since my symptoms are gone due to the Xanax, and I have a better handle of myself.

So... 
sobriety = crazy, scary dreams
xanax = crazier, scarier dreams that don't bother me that much, if at all (usually for a couple seconds after I wake)


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