ABC Medical Center > Diseases > Borderline personality disorder

What is borderline personality disorder?

4 May 2021

It is a mental condition that significantly influences your thoughts and feelings about yourself and others, which causes socialization and behavior problems that affect your life. 

This disorder causes erratic behavior and an emotionally and rationally negative self-perception, in addition to hindering the establishment and maintenance of healthy and stable relationships.

This condition’s effects include an excessive fear of loneliness, rupture, abandonment, and loss of emotional control, so there are constant mood swings that go from euphoria to anger or sadness, which isolate the patient by alienation from people.

As is the case with mental illnesses, the causes are unknown, but some factors have been identified that can contribute to their appearance, such as sexual or physical abuse in childhood, abandonment, family history, and brain dysfunctions. 

Although there is no cure, it is possible to lead a normal life thanks to the treatments available today.

Signs and symptoms Borderline personality disorder

  • Personal undervaluation.
  • Excessive stress
  • Heightened paranoia.
  • Self-sabotage and high-risk behaviors. 
  • Existential vacuum.
  • Uncontrolled anger. 
  • Panic at the possibility of being abandoned.
  • Intense conflictive relationships. 
  • Suicidal behavior and self-flagellation. 
  • Emotional and mood changes from one moment to another. 

If left untreated, this condition can damage your life in many areas, such as:

  • Little or no job stability.
  • Dropping out of school.
  • Criminal conduct and legal problems.
  • Ephemeral and problematic relationships.
  • Self-harm.
  • Illnesses and accidents due to high-risk behaviors.
  • Suicidal behavior.
  • Alcoholism and drug addiction.
  • Tendency to suffer other mental illnesses.

Diagnosis and treatment Borderline personality disorder

The range of personality disorders uses the following aspects as a diagnostic basis: 

  • Review of symptoms and clinical history.
  • Physical examination.
  • Deep interview. 
  • Complete psychological evaluation.

Psychotherapy is the indicated treatment for borderline personality disorder, although it can also be combined with drugs such as anxiolytics, antidepressants, and antipsychotics. In the event that the specialist determines that there is a risk for the patient itself, he or she may request hospitalization.

At the Neurological Center, a select group of highly professional and certified doctors in the various neurological specialties are ready to assist you with the quality and warmth that characterizes us.

Our mission is to provide you with comprehensive and multidisciplinary care programs for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of nervous system diseases, always focusing our activities on your safety.

Nervous system specialties

  • Neurology
  • Neurosurgery
  • Spine surgery
  • Pediatric neurosurgery
  • Neurophysiology
  • Neuro-rehabilitation
  • Neuro-pathology
  • Interventional neuro-radiology
  • Neuropsychology
  • Neuro-oncology
  • Neuro-otology
  • Epilepsy
  • Neuro-ophthalmology
  • Neuroimaging

Related centers and departments Borderline personality disorder

Neurology Center
High Specialty Surgery Center
Radiology and Molecular Imaging
Clinical Laboratory

Fuentes:

  • nimh.nih.gov
  • cun.es
  • topdoctors.es
  • mayocilinic.org
  • medlineplus.gov
  • msdmanuals.com
  • medigraphic.com
  • De Mendieta C, Robles R, González-Forteza C, et al. Needs assessment of informal primary caregivers of patients with borderline personality disorder: psychometrics, characterization, and intervention proposal. Salud Mental. 2019;42(2):83-89.
  • Chávez-León E, Ng B, Ontiveros-Uribe MP. Tratamiento farmacológico del trastorno límite de personalidad. Salud Mental. 2006;29(5):16-24.
  • Blanco AC, Gómez SN, Orozco MD. Actualización de los trastornos de personalidad. Revista Médica Sinergia. 2020;5(04):1-10.
  • Zegarra-Valdivia JA, Chino VBN. Social cognition and executive function in borderline personality disorder: evidence of altered cognitive processes. Salud Mental. 2019;42(1):33-41.

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    The dissemination of the content of this material is for informational purposes only and does not replace, under any circumstance or condition, a consultation with a specialist doctor, for which the ABC Medical Center is not responsible for the different use that may be given to it. If you require more information related to the subject, we suggest you contact the specialist doctor you trust directly.