Understanding Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)
Borderline personality disorder is a mental health challenge which affects people’s personalities by manifesting in intense, altering emotions. It also affects people’s self-image, causes difficulties when developing relationships and causes impulsive behaviour.
People with borderline personality disorder often have a history of abuse, childhood trauma or neglect. They also often face challenges when anticipating future events and may feel like their lives don’t matter. However, with the proper support and care, love and understanding from other people, family members and the community, the negative effects of BPD can be minimised.
Symptoms of BPD
BPD shares some of the signs of bipolar disorder, however, these symptoms differ in the behavioural triggers and their duration. People with borderline personality disorder often have feelings of emptiness, abandonment, isolation and loneliness.
The most common symptoms of BPD include:
- Intense and rapidly changing emotions – some people may experience intense mood swings from feeling confident and happy to sad or anxious in a short timeframe
- Difficulty regulating emotions leads to impulsive behaviour and sometimes even self-harm
- Difficulty building relationships
- Impulsive behaviour
- Negative self-image
- Fear of abandonment
Understanding Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder that is characterised by intense mood shifts and changes in both activity and energy levels. These mood changes can range from intense manic episodes of euphoria and high energy to periods of depression, feelings of sadness and hopelessness while losing interest in doing any activities. The range of mood changes separates BPD into several types, such as:
- Bipolar I
- Bipolar II
- Cyclothymic Disorder
- Bipolar with mixed features
- Rapid Cycling Bipolar
- Seasonal Pattern Bipolar
- Unspecified Bipolar Disorder
There isn’t one specific cause for bipolar disorder, but experts suggest that it may be a combination of environmental, social and genetic factors.
Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder
The symptoms of bipolar disorder vary and are mainly analysed through changes in behaviour and depend on the current episode the person is experiencing.
The most common symptoms of bipolar disorder include:
- A sudden shift in mood
- Lack of energy
- Lack of concentration
- Sudden sadness
- Feelings of hopelessness
- Low self-esteem
- Intense periods of crying or irritability
- Inability to feel pleasure and joy
- Significant need for sleep
- Insomnia
- Negative anticipation for the future
- Sudden and frequent appetite changes
Some people develop manic or depressive episodes that can last up to a few months. The symptoms can vary depending on whether the person is experiencing a manic or a depressive episode.
Differences Between BPD and Bipolar Disorder
The main difference between bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder is that BPD affects people’s personalities, and bipolar disorder affects people’s moods. Mood disorders cause intense and sudden mood changes, while personality disorders affect people’s behaviour, their way of thinking and their feelings.
People with personality disorders often have a hard time building relationships with other people or participating in social interactions in the community. While some people with BPD can experience some of the symptoms related to bipolar disorder, the symptoms don’t last as long. Navigating these challenges can be overwhelming, but the Unique Community Services team develops specifically tailored care plans and provides unparalleled holistic support for people with mental health challenges.
Mood Swings and Frequency
One of the main differences between a mood disorder and a personality disorder is the frequency of mood changes. People with bipolar disorder can experience mood shifts in episodes that can last from weeks to a few months. These episodes can sometimes repeat multiple times yearly; for some, it may only happen once annually.
On the other hand, people with BPD or a personality disorder, face cycles of changing feelings and emotions that affect their behaviour, mood and self-image. A person with borderline personality disorder may experience changes in mood throughout the day, but for others, it can happen only once or twice a week.
The Diagnosis Process
Many people experience changes in mood or behaviour due to different social or emotional factors. Therefore, diagnosing bipolar disorder or borderline personality disorder can be challenging. However, the first and most crucial step is assessment and diving deep into the family history. The diagnostic process includes mental health evaluation to exclude any other possible causes for the changes in mood or personality.
Diagnosing bipolar disorder often includes going through a deep evaluation and interview with mental health professionals. Many people also have a diary to note their mood, energy or sleep patterns, which can later help the diagnostic process. Evaluation for Borderline personality disorder often happens through an in-depth interview and assessment with a community mental health team.
Triggers
Some of the most common triggers for people with borderline personality disorder include:
- Any form of separation
- Conflict situations
- Losing a job
- Losing a loved one
- Divorce
- Refusal
People with BPD have a deep fear of abandonment or being left alone, which triggers severe emotional reactions and causes feelings of anger and negative thoughts about themselves, which essentially leads to impulsive reactions.
Some of the trigger symptoms for BD, on the other hand, include:
- Lack of sleep
- Irregular sleep pattern
- Stressful events
- Misuse of alcohol and other substances
- Hormonal disbalance
- Disagreements with family and friends
- Divorce
- Losing a loved one
Episodes
The episodes of BPD happen due to sudden triggers, which cause an intense emotion as a response to the trigger or are regarded as a defence mechanism. This response provokes highly negative and positive emotions about people’s self-image, the image of another person or an event. The episode can happen cyclically and last for hours, days or months.
For people with bipolar disorder, mood swings can change from depressive episodes to manic episodes. Some people can experience intense emotional swings between episodes, and these can last up to a few months.
Treatment
Treating borderline personality disorder, as well as bipolar disorder, requires accurate and precise diagnosis through a systematic and compassionate approach. Whilst these mental health conditions are treated differently, some of the most common treatment options positively affect both challenges.
Some of the treatment options for both borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder involve:
- Cognitive behaviour therapy
- Transference focused psychotherapy
- Medication
- Psychotherapy
- Dialectical behaviour therapy
The proper treatment plan is created by mental health professionals who are thoroughly informed about the individual’s history, symptoms and changes in both mood and behaviour.
Similarities of Bipolar Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder
Borderline personality disorder may sometimes be mistaken for bipolar disorder as they have some symptoms that may overlap. For example, people with borderline personality disorder may experience high energy levels but can also have signs of depressive episodes and negative moods.
Similar Symptoms
BPD and BD share some similarities:
- Impulsivity – both can lead to impulsive behavior
- Mood shifts – both cause unpredictable changes in mood and intense emotions
- Unstable relationships – both may affect people’s ability to create and maintain stable relationships
- Self-destructive behaviour – both can lead to self-destructive challenging behaviour and intense emotional reactions
While some similarities exist, the underlying causes and treatment approaches differ vastly. This is why it is essential to receive a proper diagnosis from qualified mental health professionals to develop an appropriate plan to treat borderline personality disorder or bipolar disorder and receive an improved quality of life.
Are BPD and Bipolar Disorder Related?
Some people with BPD are also diagnosed with Bipolar I disorder or Bipolar II disorder.
The statistics show that about 20% of people with bipolar II disorder and 10% of people with bipolar I disorder also have borderline personality disorder.
Can BPD Be Mistaken for Bipolar?
Borderline personality disorder may be mistaken for bipolar disorder at first glance; however, precise observation will clearly show the differences between these two challenges. These mental health conditions have different underlying causes and differentiate in the fact that one is a personality disorder and the other is a mood disorder.
Do People with BPD Have Empathy?
People with BPD sometimes develop emotional detachment as a defence mechanism, which may look like they are less sensitive to other people’s feelings and perceptions.
Why Personalised Care is Needed for BPD and Bipolar Disorder
Unique Community Services provides humanised and holistic care to people with mental health challenges through the support of our team of highly skilled and trained clinicians. Our team supports people with bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder by developing individualised care plans and utilising proactive methodologies.
We prioritise building solid relationships with the people we support and their families and keep your privacy and dignity at the highest level.
Through our Bristol and Manchester offices, we aim to become closer to our communities and deliver services across the UK.
Contact us today to find out more information about our services.
