can you explain borderline personality disorder, and a nervous breakdown?

Question

thanks

Answer 1

A nervous breakdown is an acute depression or anxiety attack. Borderlines may suffer nervous breakdowns, but having a nervous breakdown does not necessarily mean you're Borderline. You can have a nervous breakdown without being a Borderline.

Borderline Personality Disorder is a very specific diagnosis in the DSM IV manual (the official listing of psychological diagnoses). Commonly known as BPD, it actually takes a few forms. There are 9 official "indicators" of BPD, and a patient should match at least 5 of them to be considered Borderline. They are:

# Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment. (not including suicidal or self-mutilating behavior covered in Criterion 5)
# A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation.
# Identity disturbance: markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self.
# Impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (e.g., spending, sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, binge eating; [not including suicidal or self-mutilating behavior covered in Criterion 5]).
# Recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, or threats, or self-mutilating behavior
# Affective instability due to a marked reactivity of mood (e.g., intense episodic dysphoria, irritability, or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days)
# Chronic feelings of emptiness.
# Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g., frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights).
# Transient, stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms

Many people think Borderlines are people who self-mutiliate (usually cutting), probably thanks to the movie "Girl, Interrupted", but it's not a requirement. I know a very strong Borderline who intensely has 7 of the 9 criteria, and is marginal on the other two, but cutting has never happened and suicidal thoughts are marginal.

The bigger issue, I think, is fear of abandonment and loss of self-worth / self-esteem. Thinking of other people as objects, even children, and difficulty empathizing are often issues. Some Borderlines are very difficult to treat, because they don't want to hear that they have BPD, because that means that something is "wrong" with them and their self-image just can't absorb another damaging blow to what little self-worth they have.

Answer 2

Move back overseas, they just want more people to play parts in their drama...if you want peace in your life, you need to separate yourself from people that are not peaceful. I love my family too, and got conned into moving back to my home town by my dad, who paid no attention to me, except to ruin the job I got for 7+ an hour and get me a job for minimum wage at 3.36 an hour, I became my mom's charity case, and the rest of the family don't even think I saw them, maybe once or twice, I was there for 9 months, and my friend from another city came to see me, we fell madly in love, and about 10 days later, I left everything behind, sublet my apartment, and moved with him to his city. I cannot deal with all the goings on of my family, my sister says were disfunctional...I am bi-polar, and it is possible you are also, you might look into the symptoms on the internet, and see if you resonate with them, and get some help from your mental health clinic. Good outlets for anger are taking long walks, doing any exercise where you use your arm muscles, basketball, push ups pull ups, lifting weights, volleyball..even sometimes drawing a picture of what or who you are angry at, put it on your pillow, and beat it up! It works every time! .Every time you get a negative thought, just acknowledge it and replace it with a positive thought. In His Divine Love Kathy

Answer 3

This is a very good blog, a beginner’s guide to abnormal psychology.
Short, clear and simple; and you can even post your question and contact the author regarding particular subject you are interested in, for FREE

http://sensitive-psychoworld.blogspot.com/

Answer 4

My shrink tells me that "nervous breakdown" is not a real diagnosis.

Answer 5

go to this website...it's way too difficult to explain, and you'll get the info first-hand.
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/