Not only is BPD one of the most painful mental illnesses, but it's also intensified by stigma and being misunderstood by others. Fortunately, borderline personality disorder is a treatable condition, and the pain doesn't have to be endless.
Defining complex mental illness and substance use
We use the word "complex" to describe the nature of the mental health and substance use disorders they live with: Their illnesses are very severe, there are significant challenges with treating them, and several other factors often further complicate their illnesses.
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is one of the most damaging mental illnesses. By itself, this severe mental illness accounts for up to 10 percent of patients in psychiatric care and 20 percent of those who have to be hospitalized.
Illness anxiety disorder (hypochondria) is extremely rare. It affects about 0.1% of Americans. It typically appears during early adulthood. Illness anxiety disorder can affect all ages and genders.
Antisocial personality disorder may be one of the most misunderstood mental disorders.
The most common are anxiety disorders major depression and bipolar disorder. Below is more information on these disorders and how ACCESS can help.
Fear of Patients Lashing Out. Individuals with symptoms of BPD are particularly sensitive to perceived criticism. This increases the likelihood that they will feel attacked when a therapist attempts to offer suggestions or insights. This often leads to lashing out.
BPD is a very different diagnosis than schizophrenia, though the two can co-exist. While BPD is characterized by a pattern of instability in interpersonal relationships; schizophrenia is characterized by a range of cognitive, behavioral, and emotional dysfunctions.
Separations, disagreements, and rejections—real or perceived—are the most common triggers for symptoms. A person with BPD is highly sensitive to abandonment and being alone, which brings about intense feelings of anger, fear, suicidal thoughts and self-harm, and very impulsive decisions.
BPD is considered to be one of the most serious mental illnesses, as it causes a great deal of suffering and has a high-risk for suicide.”
The basic definition of treatment-refractory anxiety requires that standard anxiety disorder treatments have been successfully delivered and found to be either totally ineffective (no response) or only modestly effective (response but no remission).
Panic disorder
Panic attacks are intense, overwhelming and often uncontrollable feelings of anxiety. Physical symptoms can include trouble breathing, chest pain, dizziness and sweating. If someone has repeated panic attacks they may have a panic disorder.
3 million Australians are living with anxiety. Anxiety is the most common mental health condition in Australia. 1 in 4 people will experience anxiety at some stage in their life.
Brain scans have shown people with BPD have amygdala's that are noticeably smaller than the general population, and may even have undergone atrophy. The smaller the amygdala, the more overactive it is.
A person with BPD typically has an unstable self-identity. Sometimes, lies help them bridge the gap between their true identity and the one they've adopted for the time being.
SMI includes major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, post traumatic stress (PTSD) and borderline personality disorder (VA).
Technically, according to DSM-5*, a person can receive more than one personality disorder diagnosis. People who are diagnosed with a personality disorder most often qualify for more than one diagnosis. A person with a severe personality disorder might meet the criteria for four, five or even more disorders!
Between 50% and 90% of patients with BPD report hearing voices that other people do not hear (Yee et al., 2005; Kingdon et al., 2010). Importantly, such auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) are a risk factor for suicide plans, attempts, and hospitalization (Miller et al., 1993; Zonnenberg et al., 2016).