What is BPD like ?
Those with borderline personality disorder (BPD) have extremely negative, distorted views of themselves, characterized by low feelings of self-worth. This leads to problems creating and maintaining relationships with others. Though their beliefs and behaviours stem from feelings of inadequacy, people with the BPD may offend and ostracize others or make inappropriate comments, while exerting moodiness, and experiencing occasional outbursts of anger.
A person with a borderline personality disorder will not know that how they feel, and think is atypical, maladaptive, or potentially destructive, until someone sits down with them and explains it all thoroughly.
What therapy is best for BPD?
Dialectical Behaviour therapy (DBT) is designed specifically to treat borderline personality disorder.
What Does Borderline Personality Disorder Look Like in Teens and Young Adults?
- Teens with borderline personality disorder may be aware and feel guilt over the effects of their behaviour on others, and yet, may be unable to change or behave differently on their own.
- The aftermath of their compulsive behaviour and the resulting guilt can ultimately lead to even more negative feelings about themselves, and even depression.
- A teen with borderline personality disorder exhibits inflexible and maladaptive (destructive) personality traits, with chronically bad behaviour leading to impairment in everyday life.
Different Types of Teen Borderline Personality Disorder
Discouraged Borderline – characterized by depression, a grave or serious demeanor, outbursts of anger, and reckless, harmful behaviour.
Impulsive Borderline – characterized by risk-taking and thrill-seeking, flirtatiousness, extreme need and desire for attention, and dangerous and risky social behaviour.
Petulant Borderline – characterized by difficulty maintaining relationships, moodiness and gloominess, fear of disappointing others, a bad temper, and anxiety and fear about being unloved.
Self-Destructive Borderline – characterized by people turning their negative outlook about life onto themselves, carried out in punishing, harmful behaviours such as eating disorders, substance abuse, and other reckless behaviour.
What Are The Causes Of Teen Borderline Personality Disorder?
It’s important to understand that personality disorders in general are quite rare, and while they are triggered mostly through forms of stress, there is no way of concretely knowing whether a teen will develop a personality disorder in response to stress or not. It isn’t known what exactly in the brain causes borderline personality disorders in teens, but there are various risk factors that contribute to one happening:
Genetics – The biggest indication of a potential personality disorder is a family history of personality disorders, particularly if a close relative also struggled with a borderline personality disorder.
Trauma and abuse – a single highly traumatic event or series of events early on in a teen’s formative years can be severely psychologically scarring, creating deep-seated issues, and potentially leading to self-esteem issues, post-traumatic stress and anxiety, dissociation, and personality disorders.
Stress at home or in school – chronic, unaddressed stress, relationship issues coming to a dramatic end, unstable and invalidating relationships and interpersonal conflict are a few possible forms of stress severe enough