Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a mental health condition. It affects about 1-4 per cent of people in Australia at some stage of their lives.
It is the most common personality disorder in Australia, affecting about 1 to 4 in every 100 people at some time in their lives.
Some people with BPD may meet the criteria for the NDIS, some have been approved already, many have not. It is possible for people to recover from BPD however, and to go onto the NDIS, it is required you have a permanent disability this is one of the challenges faced with being eligible for the NDIS.
Borderline personality disorder causes significant impairment and distress and is associated with multiple medical and psychiatric co-morbidities. Surveys have estimated the prevalence of borderline personality disorder to be 1.6% in the general population and 20% in the inpatient psychiatric population.
Myth: BPD Is a Rare Condition
It is estimated that more than 14 million Americans have BPD, extrapolated from a large study performed in 2008. An estimated 11% of psychiatric outpatients, 20% of psychiatric inpatients, and 6% of people visiting their primary health care provider have BPD.
In particular, there is evidence that BPD is commonly misdiagnosed as Bipolar Disorder, Type 2. One study showed that 40% of people who met criteria for BPD but not for bipolar disorder were nevertheless misdiagnosed with Bipolar Type 2.
BPD is a troubling diagnosis, but it is important to remember that this is a treatable condition. You will see improvements if you work with your therapist and others involved in treatment.
The Social Security Administration placed borderline personality disorder as one of the mental health disorders on its disabilities list. However, you'll have to meet specific criteria for an official disability finding. For example, you must prove that you have the symptoms of the condition.
A number of environmental factors seem to be common and widespread among people with BPD. These include: being a victim of emotional, physical or sexual abuse. being exposed to long-term fear or distress as a child.
Although anyone can develop BPD, it's more common if you have a family history of BPD. People with other mental health conditions, such as anxiety, depression or eating disorders, are also at higher risk. Nearly 75% of people diagnosed with BPD are people assigned female at birth (AFAB).
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a serious, long-lasting and complex mental health problem. People with BPD have difficulty regulating or handling their emotions or controlling their impulses.
BPD is considered a disability and you can continue receiving benefits. The new psychiatrist will need to help you with getting clear about your inquiry. To change from one diagnosis to the other will require your psychiatrist to provide you with some sort of document to reference when contacting Centrelink.
If your doctor suspects BPD, they may refer you to a psychiatrist or psychologist for diagnosis and treatment – this may be through your local public mental health service. There are no specific tests that can help confirm the diagnosis of BPD.
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) has historically been seen as a lifelong, highly disabling disorder.
Follow up studies of people with BPD receiving treatment found a borderline personality disorder treatment success rate of about 50% over a 10-year period. BPD takes time to improve, but treatment does work.
Visiting your GP
If you want to talk about BPD and a possible diagnosis, visit your GP. Bringing up your BPD concerns to your doctor may be frightening at first, but it's the first step that needs to be done in order to have a borderline personality disorder assessment completed.
Stressful or traumatic life events
Often having felt afraid, upset, unsupported or invalidated. Family difficulties or instability, such as living with a parent or carer who experienced an addiction. Sexual, physical or emotional abuse or neglect. Losing a parent.
With borderline personality disorder, you have an intense fear of abandonment or instability, and you may have difficulty tolerating being alone. Yet inappropriate anger, impulsiveness and frequent mood swings may push others away, even though you want to have loving and lasting relationships.
The symptoms of borderline personality disorder usually first occur in the teenage years and early twenties. However, onset may occur in some adults after the age of thirty, and behavioral precursors are evident in some children.
Limited therapeutic effectiveness of antidepressants in BPD may be related to lack of serotonin receptor specificity, since 5-HT2A but not 5-HT2C antagonism is associated with decreasing impulsivity.
As long as you know what your rights are and you have decided what degree of disclosure will make you comfortable in your workplace, talking to your boss about leave for treatment should go smoothly. Don't be afraid to bring in your psychiatrist or therapist if necessary.
People living with BPD often have an intense fear of instability and abandonment. As a result, they have problems being alone. The condition is also known for anger, mood swings, and impulsiveness. These qualities can dissuade people from being around someone with BPD.
Often, the borderline person is unaware of how they feel when their feelings surface, so they displace their feelings onto others as causing them. They may not realise that their feelings belong within them, so they think that their partner is responsible for hurting them and causing them to feel this way.
People with borderline personality disorder (BPD) often have a strong fear of abandonment, struggle to maintain healthy relationships, have very intense emotions, act impulsively, and may even experience paranoia and dissociation.