Discuss the problems related with identifying and diagnosing Borderline Personality Disorder.
Question:
Discuss the problems related with identifying and diagnosing Borderline Personality Disorder.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- History and definition of Borderline Personality Disorder
- Problems identifying Borderline Personality Disorder
- Problems diagnosing Borderline Personality Disorder
- Conclusion
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is said to be the most common of all the personality disorders occurring across all cultures and in both genders. This disorder seems to develop in early adulthood between the ages of 18 and 25 and a person’s condition tends to improve with age. Borderline personality disorder is characterised by instability. “They tend to have very turbulent relationships, fearing abandonment but lacking control over their emotions” (Barlow and Durand, 2005, p.440). Other characteristics of people with this disorder include self mutilation, threats of suicide, drug and alcohol abuse and are often chronically bored. It is common for people diagnosed with Borderline personality disorder to also be diagnosed with another disorder. These include mood disorders such as bipolar and eating disorders, especially bulimia. “Almost 25% of bulimics also have borderline personality disorder” (Barlow and Durand, 2005, p.441). People diagnosed with this disorder often have a disturbed sense of their identity due to their poor development in their early years. Borderline Personality Disorder is a complex disorder which is difficult to diagnose as it has so many factors. This essay will look at the problems one has identifying and diagnosing this disorder.
Borderline Personality Disorder is complex and has a number of diagnostic criteria which can be found in a couple of other personality disorders. To meet the criteria stipulated by the DSM-IV-TR the person must have no less than five of the nine symptoms present over an extended period of time. The term Borderline was first used in the 1970’s by psychiatrists “Stern and Knight” (Gunderson, 2009. p.530). After that many other psychiatrists added to and amended the criteria for this disorder and by 1980 “it entered DSM-III as “borderline personality disorder’’.’’ (Gunderson, 2009. p.530). In 2000-2009, new findings had come to the surface and it was found that “[T]he disorder is significantly heritable and the other that it has unexpectedly good prognosis’’ (Gunderson, 2009. p.534).
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Teacher Reviews
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A good piece of work examining the problems with diagnosing borderline personality disorder. An outline of what the disorder is was given and the writer illustrated well the reasons why diagnosing it is difficult: details of the symptoms were given and linked to other disorders with similar symptoms. Please remember to start a new paragraph when discussing a new idea. This helps to ensure the work is well-structured. There were a few ideas which needed a little more detail and these have been noted on the piece itself. Eg. what does it mean for the symptoms to have been prevalent for a long time? 4/5