Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder

The treatment of individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) is quite difficult. Despite a better understanding of the disorder, most treatments do not live up to expectations. Both group and individual therapy have been shown to be only partially effective in a few patients.

In the last decade, a new psychosocial treatment known as dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) has been used to treat patients with BPD. The treatment combines the standard cognitive behavior techniques for emotional balance and reality testing. The treatment encourages tolerance awareness and acceptance of others. DBT has been derived from the Buddhists meditative ideology and is probably the first therapy to have had any significant benefit in BPD patients.

Drug therapy is often prescribed to treat specific symptoms of the BDP individual. The most commonly used drugs to treat BPD patients include anti-depressants which help alleviate the depressed or labile moods. When there are features of distorted/delusional thinking, anti-psychotics are also often prescribed.

There is now some evidence that the cause of BPD may be partly related to genetic factors and the environment. A number of these individuals do reveal a history of abuse (physical, emotional, sexual), neglect or separation as children. This abuse is most often perpetrated by a non caregiver. There is a strong belief that BPD may be triggered when the individual is re-exposed to any one of the prior abusive factors. Another aspect of BPD therapy is family support. However, these individuals create persistent havoc in the lives of people who try to help them.

When the triggers are identified, avoidance of these factors can make the disorder a lot easier to control with cognitive behavior therapy. Despite all the advances in therapy, majority of individuals with BPD lead a poor quality of life with frequent labile moods, spontaneous anger and impulsivity. Most are loners and make lives of everyone around them miserable.