In fact, many antidepressants can cause mood swings as a side effect, which can amplify the flurry of emotions that you are already feeling due to BPD, highlighting the necessity of proper diagnosis and receiving the appropriate antidepressant medication.
Because antidepressants have not demonstrated significant high-level evidence of therapeutic benefit, these medications currently lack strong recommendations in treating BPD. Serotonin regulates amygdala hyperreactivity in BPD, thought to be a central neurobiological correlate of affective instability.
Brand names: Zoloft
Sertraline has an average rating of 6.6 out of 10 from a total of 35 ratings for the off-label treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder. 57% of reviewers reported a positive experience, while 29% reported a negative experience.
Borderline personality disorder is mainly treated using psychotherapy, but medication may be added. Your doctor also may recommend hospitalization if your safety is at risk. Treatment can help you learn skills to manage and cope with your condition.
Indeed, several reports have demonstrated the efficacy of selective serotonin re-uptake drugs in treating the depressive and impulsive symptoms of patients with BPD.
Brand names: Lexapro
Escitalopram has an average rating of 8.6 out of 10 from a total of 22 ratings for the off-label treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder. 86% of reviewers reported a positive experience, while 5% reported a negative experience.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) are the most commonly prescribed antidepressants for individuals with BPD who are experiencing symptoms of depression.
Listen to music that you find uplifting or soothing. Write a comforting letter to the part of yourself that is feeling sad or alone. Let yourself cry or sleep. Cuddle a pet or a soft toy.
Five major treatments—DBT, mentalization-based treatment (MBT) [1], schema-focused therapy (SFT) [2], transference-focused psychotherapy (TFP) [3], and systems training for emotional predictability and problem solving (STEPPS) [4]—have been established as evidence based treatments (EBTs) for BPD [5].
Borderline personality disorder is a mental illness that severely impacts a person's ability to regulate their emotions. This loss of emotional control can increase impulsivity, affect how a person feels about themselves, and negatively impact their relationships with others.
First-line treatment for BPD is psychotherapy [5-7]. Psychotropic medications are used as adjuncts to psychotherapy, targeting specific BPD symptom clusters. Adjunctive use of symptom targeted medications has been found to be useful [8].
Some researchers believe that dopamine dysfunction may be involved in the development of borderline personality disorder (BPD). This mainly stems from studies that support dopamine's role in thinking, regulating emotions, and impulse control, all of which are impaired in people with BPD.
It's thought that many people with BPD have something wrong with the neurotransmitters in their brain, particularly serotonin. Neurotransmitters are "messenger chemicals" used by your brain to transmit signals between brain cells.
Cyclical fluctuations in the ovarian hormones 17β-estradiol (E2; estrogen) and progesterone (P4) predict emotions, cognitive processes, and behaviors relevant to Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD); however, there are individual differences in sensitivity to normal hormone shifts.
Maladaptive parenting including childhood maltreatment, abuse and neglect, exposure to domestic violence and parental conflict are found to be prevalent psychosocial risk factors for development of BPD in children and adolescents [10, 11].
It is now clear that DSM-IV-defined BPD is a heterogeneous construct that includes patients on the mood disorder spectrum and the impulsivity spectrum (Siever and Davis, 1991), in contrast to the original speculation that these patients might be near neighbors of patients with schizophrenia or other psychoses.
Also, many people achieve remission — their symptoms become much less intense, so much so that they no longer meet the criteria for diagnosis. The stigma around BPD is pervasive, but many people get better. With treatment, it's possible to go on to lead a happy and healthy life.
Objective Atypical antipsychotics appear to be effective and well tolerated in the treatment of borderline personality disorder. One such agent, quetiapine ("Seroquel"), has a favourable side-effect profile and may be of value in acute and chronic treatment of this disorder.
According to Psych Central, serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, are typically the go-to for treating borderline personality disorder. SSRIs work to alleviate symptoms of anxiety, depression, suicidal behavior, anger and impulsivity.
Examples of anti-anxiety medications used to treat the symptoms of BPD include: Alprazolam (Xanax) Diazepam (Valium) Buspirone (Buspar)