mental health disorders
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)
Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder
Psychotherapy Sometimes medications The Treatment of borderline personality disorder are the same as those for all personality disorders. Identifying and treating coexisting disorders is important for effective treatment of borderline personality disorder. Treatment includes psychotherapy and certain medications. The main treatment for borderline personality disorder is psychotherapy. Specific psychotherapies for borderline personality disorder can reduce suicide-related behaviors, help relieve depression, and help people function better. The following cognitive-behavioral therapies focus on regulating emotions and helping the person improve social skills: Dialectical behavioral therapy (a combination of individual and group sessions with therapists who act as behavior coaches and are on call around the clock) Systems training for emotional predictability and problem solving (STEPPS) Dialectical behavioral therapyprovides weekly individual and group sessions and a therapist who is also available by telephone. The therapist acts as a behavior coach. The aim is to help people find better ways of responding to stress—for example, to resist urges to behave self-destructively. STEPPSinvolves weekly group sessions for 20 weeks. People learn skills to manage their emotions, to challenge their negative expectations, and to better care for themselves. For example, they learn to distance themselves from what they are feeling at the moment. They learn to set goals, avoid illegal substances, and improve their eating, sleeping, and exercise habits. People are also asked to identify a support team of friends, family members, and health care practitioners who are willing to coach them when they are in crisis. The following additional psychotherapies are also used to treat borderline personality disorders: Mentalization-based treatment Transference-focused psychotherapy Schema-focused therapy Supportive psychotherapy Mentalizationrefers to people's ability to reflect on and understand their own state of mind (what they are feeling and why) and the state of mind of others. Mentalization-based treatment helps people do the following: Effectively regulate their emotions (for example, calm down when they are upset) Understand how they contribute to their own problems and difficulties with others Reflect on and understand how other people are thinking and feeling It thus helps them relate to others with empathy and compassion, which also helps others understand and support them. Transference-focused psychotherapycenters on the interaction between the person and the therapist. The therapist asks questions and helps the person examine exaggerated, distorted, and unrealistic self-images and reactions to various situations. The current moment (including how the person is relating to the therapist) is emphasized rather than the past. For example, when a timid, quiet person suddenly becomes hostile and argumentative, the therapist may ask whether the person noticed a shift in feelings and then ask the person to think about how the person was experiencing the therapist and self when things changed. The purposes are To enable the person to develop a more stable and realistic sense of self and others To learn to relate to others in a healthier way through transference to the therapist Schema-focused therapyfocuses on identifying lifelong maladaptive patterns of thinking, feeling, behaving, and coping (called schemas) and replacing negative thoughts, feelings, and behaviors with healthier ones. is also useful. The therapist's goal is to establish an emotional, encouraging, supportive relationship with the person and thus help the person develop healthy defense mechanisms, especially in interpersonal relationships. However, supportive treatments alone may not reduce the more immediate problems of borderline personality disorder (such as Suicidal Behavior and When needed, medications are used to sparingly treat specific symptoms. These medications include Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) (SSRIs), a type of antidepressant: To help lessen depression and anxiety (only slightly effective for people with borderline personality disorder) Treatment : To help lessen depression, anxiety, mood swings, and impulsive tendencies Antipsychotic drugs : To help lessen anxiety, anger, and stress-related distortions in thinking (such as paranoid or very disorganized thoughts) 