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In 2005, I joined the board as an officer in a state mood disorder patients group. There, I came across behavior I could not ascribe to bipolar disorder – extremely abusive verbal attacks, explosive meltdowns, public outbursts, poison pen emails, delusional self-centeredness, love and light one minute-on their shit list the next.
Yes, bipolars can behave badly, but this was different. It was like being back in high school again, only worse. ...
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Tuesday, January 6, 2009
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2 comments:
Hi John,
It is my experience, like most Mental Health Conditions, those who have Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), and readily reveal it, and work on their coping skills do really well. For those friends and family surrounding the BPD person the accommodations, when understood, are very easy.
Simple things like not taking the BPD person out of their comfort zone. How? An example would be simply letting the BPD make the decision whether to eat out, or stay in. No unsettling for the BPD makes the accommodation work like a snap.
The greater the comfort level, the easier it becomes. When a mistake in the accommodations is made, a polite woops, sorry about that should suffice.
Unfortunately the illness, and its accompanying accommodations are so poorly understood it is sometimes referred to as the Axxhole disease. It need not be.
Now along with CBT, we have DBT, which is an even better therapeutic tool for Borderlines.
I'd like it if BPD wasn't so feared. That therapists would stop avoiding them, and denying services.
When untreated, or denied, this disorder causes so much damage for the person and their surrounding friends, family and co-workers that could be classified as the worst outcome for mental health issues.
Denying care is not the solution.
This is a great topic, thanks for the article.
Hey, Paul. Definitely agree. The unrecognition of this illness and the unwillingness of clinicians to take on patients or clients with borderline is responsible for untold suffering all around.
Hopefully, attitudes will change.
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