Borderline Personality Disorder - Can It Be Treated?

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) has been seen to be more prevalent among women than men. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), about 75 percent of people who are diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) are women. However, this is often used as a derisive stereotype raising the stigma within a society where women don t want to seek professional help and men are often not thought to have it, raising the difficulty level of diagnosing it.

While mood changes and aggressive behavior are common symptoms of borderline personality disorder, the tell-tale sign of BPD is the issue with abandonment, whether it is actual or just perceived. The loss or breakdown in a relationship can seriously bring out the worst in a person suffering from BPD. However, sometimes the abandonment issue may not be actual. It may just be imagined by the patient. This causes the person to have unstable and volatile relationships.

Borderline Personality Disorder or BPD tends to develop the most among people who have suffered from some form of childhood trauma. This could include sexual abuse, an abusive parent, alcoholism in parents, loss of a parent and constant fear & distress due to environmental factors. This traumatic experience tends to put a deep-rooted fear within them which then grow into BPD by the time they become adults.

Although this might come as a surprise, it is estimated that BPD may affect up to 2 % of the entire populace. That is a fairly large number, considering the total populace and many don t have it diagnosed, continuing to affect them in their routine lives. Also, the stigma to be diagnosed with BPD often pushes people to stay away from mental health evaluation. Thus, the actual number of people affected by the disorder may be much larger than the ones on record.