Treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder
wandering through a desolate wasteland of your own making
I guess I have suffered from untreated Borderline Personality Disorder, (BPD), for most of my life. I shouldn’t feel so bad because BPD is mostly incurable, and all many of we sufferers can do is learn how to minimise how the symptoms and traits that blight our lives.
As far as possible treatments go…..
Many suffers of this terrible illness self-medicate with copious quantities of alcohol, marijuana, and other street drugs ~ and then they become addicts. I’ve tried the booze thing, over and over again, just to escape the pain and suffering. It works for a while, because a boozer will eventually just pass out. However, the cure soon becomes worse than the disease. Too much booze can kill you in so very many ways, and anyone suffering from Borderline Personality Disorder will always drink far too much strong liquor. Eventually one has to stop drinking for a while, and for a while after you stop drinking you might feel so physically ill that you believe you are going to die.
If you are in crisis your doctor might give you a sleeping pill or tranquilizer, but should not ever prescribe more than a week’s supply ~ there is too much danger that someone suffering from BPD will take an overdose, possibly in an attempt to kill themselves.
Your doctor may prescribe Prozac, (fluoxetine), which is an SSRI, (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor), an antidepressant used to safely treat depression, anxiety, OCD, (obsessive compulsive disorder), maybe Bipolar Disorder, and eating disorders. Prozac makes you want to commit suicide. When you stop taking Prozac you will have some unpleasant withdrawal symptoms.
In a tiny study, (of 12 patients suffering from BPD), all showed some improvement after taking Prozac over an extended period, but none in the trial had suffered from terrible depression. Nowhere is Prozac said to be an effective treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder.
Of the talking therapies, current thinking is that Dialectical Behavior Therapy, (DBT), is most effective at treating BPD. The thing about DBT is that it focuses on honestly accepting who we are, and that is the real key to living a good life if you have fucking Borderline Personality Disorder.
Good luck in finding a counselor skilled in Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or getting the funding for the long and intensive course of treatment you really need. The best you might get is some Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which is where Dialectical Behavior Therapy came from in the first place.
Personally, I have found a great deal of benefit just watching and listening appropriate podcasts on internet sites like YouTube. What I have learned is that no matter how fucking chaotic, evil, and negative my feelings are, I DO NOT NEED TO LET MY NEGATIVE FEELINGS AFFECT MY BEHAVIOUR.
Some say that they never realised that they were acting like a jerk, or a bitch. And that they thought that everyone had distressing feelings all the time. All I know is that I can be a cool guy, living a really great life ~ even though I have an incurable personality disorder.
~
jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
even in the short term drinking will not help people with a problem
Dialectics
wisdom lies neither in fixity nor in change, but in the dialectic between the two
opposition between two interacting forces
Just as infinity exists in two opposing states which are both impossible to measure or calculate, so ultimate truth exists in two opposing states which are impossible to measure or calculate.
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy is an evidence-based psychotherapy that began with efforts to treat Borderline Personality Disorder ~ which is one reason I’m interested in Dialectics. I continue to suffer from many of the dangerous symptoms of BPD.
- Intense fear of abandonment
- Unstable and dysfunctional relationships
- Unstable self-image
- Impulsive and self-destructive behaviours
- Self-harm, in my case through alcohol abuse
- Extreme emotional swings
- Chronic feelings of emptiness, anxiety, depression…..
- Explosive anger
It’s worth trying almost anything to be free of these life-destroying scenario.
In classical Greek philosophy, as expounded by Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato dialectic signifies the logic of falsehoods and illusions which yet gives the outward appearance of Truth. Dialectic also means the process of discussion through which ultimate truth may be found, and there it can get quite complex depending upon which philosopher one is reading. But in simplistic terms the process is always;
Problem ——–> Reaction ——-> Solution
and the Solution will give the outward appearance of Truth.
This outward appearance of Truth will usually be accepted by the subconscious mind because it comes about as the result of opposites and that a solution occurs when one of the opposites is stronger than the other.
There are three basic assumptions in dialectics;
- All things are interconnected.
- Change is constant and inevitable.
- Opposites can be integrated to form a closer approximation of Truth.
I’m fully alongside the first two assumptions. I have long believed in the interconnectedness of all things. And, although I would prefer not to believe in the inevitability of change, I’m afraid that we have to. The third point goes to the heart of self-belief, self-confidence, and self-awareness.
The individual becomes for himself what he is in himself through what he manifests for others. ~ Lev S. Vygotsky
The practical upshot of all this is that it is perfectly possible and perfectly acceptable to hold two completely opposing views, which do not have ever to be reconciled, merely accepted. As in; I HATE you. Please don’t leave me.
The cool song I posted earlier today I’ll Find My Way Home perfectly expresses Dialectics.
Some say that they have firm opinions which are never wrong. And that they always tell the truth. All I know is that everybody lies.
~
jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
Dialectics; investigating or discussing the truth of opinions
Borderline Personality Disorder
An Unnatural Fear Of Abandonment
Your perspective on life comes from the cage you were held captive in. ~ Shannon L. Alder
I have a counsellor to help me with my nastier character defects, and recently she explored with me the possibility that I may be suffering from Borderline Personality Disorder which is a serious mental health problem. The evidence my counsellor quotes is that;
- I have a great fear that the people I care for will abandon me and hurt me.
- I suffer from very intense emotions, and mood swings.
- I am an all or nothing, black and white person.
- I do not have a strong sense of self, (and I have no idea what that means).
- I find it extremely hard to make and keep stable relationships.
- I act impulsively and some of the things I do are dangerous.
- I am the original ‘angry man’.
- I have ‘attempted suicide’ as a cry for help.
- I often refuse medical treatment.
- I sometimes abuse alcohol.
As you would expect, I’ve thought about this very carefully, and decided that my counsellor was talking bull droppings. Accordingly, I found some online self-test questionnaires from sites like; Borderline Personality Disorder Demystified, Counseling-Office.com, Psyche Central, PsyCom, and the UK National Health Service
Every single time I honestly and openly took one of these tests the answer was that I ‘most likely’ have a Borderline Personality Disorder. (Most of the time my scores were off the red end of the scale…) I would rather not have my whole life affected by something that happened years and years ago, when I was a child. Sometimes I act insane, and honestly, I’d rather not.
In order to recover from this ‘illness’ or whatever Borderline Personality Disorder is, I have some serious work to do.
It seems that I should be reporting to my family doctor, for onward referral to psychotherapy, and treatments like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Schema-focused Therapy, and Systems Training for Emotional Predictability and Problem Solving (STEPPS).
There are also a lot of drugs the doctors can prescribe for BPD; antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilisers, sleeping tablets, tranquilisers… My guess is that none of these drugs will work much to actually treat a Borderline Personality Disorder.
None of that official medical treatment is going to happen any time soon. This is my problem, in my own mind, and I am determined to solve it myself. Self-help is a very powerful thing. Even though I am my own worst enemy ~ the real me will win out in the end.
I’m so good at beginnings, but in the end I always seem to destroy everything, including myself. ~ Kiera Van Gelder
Self-help may not be the whole answer, but I will keep you posted of my progress. The Truth Is In My Own Mind.
~
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
JackCollier7 
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