(B1) RESEARCH ON BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER + SURVEY BY RAISA

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 WHAT IS A PERSONALITY DISORDER?

https://www.verywellmind.com/the-cluster-b-personality-disorders-425429

Personality disorders can be confusing since many have similar or even overlapping characteristics. In order to better differentiate one from the next, the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) grouped the various disorders into three clusters, each of which is characterised by a shared and distinctive personality feature.Your personality is defined by how you think, behave, and feel. A personality disorder is not simply about thinking, feeling, or behaving differently than would be expected. It is a persistent deviation from cultural expectations that causes distress and makes it difficult to function.

At its heart, a personality disorder characterised by an unhealthy and rigid pattern of behaviour that interferes with the ability to perceive or relate to situations or people, enjoy life, maintain meaningful relationships, and do well at school or work.

BPD is considered to be in the cluster B personality disorders; these are characterised by dramatic, overly emotional, or unpredictable thinking or behaviours and reportedly affect 5.5% of adults.

WHAT IS BPD? WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS?

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-borderline-personality-disorder-bpd-425487

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a serious psychological condition that's characterised by unstable moods and emotions, relationships, and behaviour. Personality disorders are psychological conditions that begin in adolescence or early adulthood, continue over many years, and, when left untreated, can cause a great deal of distress. It is also associated with specific problems with interpersonal relationships, self-image, emotions, behaviours, and thinking.The symptoms consist of these 9, one only needs 5 to be diagnosed with BPD:

  1. Efforts to avoid abandonment

  2. Emotional instability

  3. Feelings of emptiness

  4. Identity disturbances

  5. Impulsive behaviours

  6. Inappropriate, intense anger

  7. Unstable interpersonal relationships

  8. Suicidal or self-harming behaviours

  9. Transient paranoid or dissociative symptoms

THE STIGMA AROUND BPD

BPD is one of the most stigmatised disorders within our society and even with therapists. It is often that therapists choose not to treat someone with BPD or does not provide the right treatment (which only deters them from wanting to seek help). The stigma surrounding BPD can be summarised, but does not at all go into depth of how painful and harmful it can be.

https://www.borderlinepersonalitydisorder.org/pearls-from-beyond-borderline-the-experience-of-stigma-and-the-diagnosis-of-bpd-part-4-of-11/

This is a personal anecdote and account from a BPD survivor on her experiences with dealing with the stigma around therapists and professionals. It's quite a sad read, and in fact personally for me I felt hurt too because I understood. To summarise her feelings, many of the teachers and her peers would often make very belittling remarks about BPD patients such as:

  • malicious creatures sucking the life out of everyone around them

  • borderlines are exhausting to work with

  • borderlines are manipulative patients

Reading her experiences with the stigma all of which were face to face, pained me so much to read. I understood how she felt how she hated herself afterwards and questioned her worth - are we really like that? 

https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/blog/im-still-shocked-stigma-comes-my-bpd-diagnosis

This is another personal account from someone who has BPD, but is more society directed than within the professional treatment field (which goes to show how bad it really is). She describes her feelings of hurt and anxiety from reading and hearing these very negative words describing Borderlines. She essentially describes what the stigma surrounding people with BPD are:

  • manipulative people

  • attention seeking 

  • borderlines create chaos 

  • toxic people 

It hurt me to read that because it demonises the disorder which is a literal mental illness, causing many people with BPD to engage with impulsive behaviours like self harm. 


SUICIDE RATES IN BPD

https://www.verywellmind.com/suicidality-in-borderline-personality-disorder-425485

Research has shown that about 75% of people with BPD will make at least one suicide attempt in their lifetime, and many will make multiple suicide attempts. People with BPD are also more likely to complete suicide than individuals with any other psychiatric disorder. It has been estimated that between 3% to 10% of people with BPD complete suicide, which is more than 50 times the rate of suicide in the general population. 

Honestly, I understand why. I myself have had multiple attempts in the past year. It is a really hard struggle to live for people you love when you feel like you are worthless, like there is nothing here for you but you live for everyone else because how dare you hurt other people like that. This is how I think. I punish myself for feeling suicidal when I know I shouldn't. 


PRIMARY RESEARCH SURVEY RESULTS


To gauge a rough understanding of how some people understand BPD or if they really know it at all, a short 10 question survey was sent out to friends and family, and put on social media as well to get a wider range of audience. The results were (out of 31 people):

  • 73.33% were of the age 18-24, 16.67% under 18, and 3.33% for those 25-34, 35-44, and 45-55

  • Many people had a general understand of what a personality disorder was

  • 7 people out of 3 didn't know or wrongly defined personality disorders, with about 3 out of the 7 describing DID instead

  • When guessing which cluster of Personality disorders belonged to, 86.67% guessing cluster b correctly, 10% guessing cluster a, and 23.33% guessing cluster c.

  • 15 people answered that they knew what BPD was, and 16 people not knowing

  • Most people were able to roughly pinpoint some aspects of BPD, but 4 people described it as having multiple personalities which is DID

  • The most specific answer was "

  •    borderline personality disorder is a complex mental illness with many variations. most significantly many suffer from irrational and intense emotions (splits) & fear of abandonment & dissociation & constantly shifting sense of identity. this makes them both impulsive and unstable. it can either be genetic or as a result of severe trauma, or a combination. people with bpd also usually suffer with depression and/or anxiety   

  •  
    borderline personality disorder is a complex mental illness with many variations. most significantly many suffer from irrational and intense emotions (splits) & fear of abandonment & dissociation & constantly shifting sense of identity. this makes them both impulsive and unstable. it can either be genetic or as a result of severe trauma, or a combination. people with bpd also usually suffer with depression and/or anxiety

  • 16 people said they knew someone with BPD, and 15 people didn't

  • Amongst all 9 symptoms (a multiple choice answer), 100% of all respondents chose rapid changes in self-identity / self image as in seeing yourself as bad then not existing at all

  • The lowest voted symptom was intense inappropriate anger with only 67.74% people choosing it

When asking about which of these descriptions of stigma applied to BPD stigma, people answered


Regarding clusters, At the start of the survey people (30) voted

At the end they (31) answered

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