If you have received a professional diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) or believe that you may be living with BPD, you may be feeling alone, frightened, or overwhelmed. BPD is a complex psychiatric disorder that manifests differently in each person.
Although living with BPD can be extremely painful, isolating, and chaotic, there are many reasons to be encouraged. If you’re reading this at all, it means you’re already being proactive and educating yourself about BPD and Borderline Personality Disorder therapy. Your goal moving forward will be learning how to start living with BPD as opposed to merely suffering with BPD.
5 Things to Know about Living with BPD
1. You are not alone. Although this may sound cliché or obvious, it is true. Borderline Personality Disorder can be an especially isolating experience. Sufferers want nothing more than secure attachments to others but are compelled to act out in ways that inhibit real intimacy and trust. However, living with BPD doesn’t mean you’re alone. There are support groups and online forums to help you get a sense of how others have coped with their diagnosis and moved forward in a positive direction. Remember that others are living with BPD and understand how hard it is. It helps to know that you aren’t on your own.
2. Effective Borderline Personality Disorder therapy exists. For many years, a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder was extremely discouraging, as few available treatment options had highly proven success rates. Professional therapists were often reluctant to take on clients suffering from BPD simply because of the inherent difficulties in treating the disorder. However, we now find ourselves in an era where there are many reasons to believe that BPD is not only treatable, but can be recovered from. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) has been shown to be highly effective as a Borderline Personality Disorder therapy that teaches patients a new skill set to apply when confronted with states of emotional distress.
3. You need support. Aside from professional support, people diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder need the love and support of friends and family throughout the recovery process. In some cases, BPD can stem from an extremely dysfunctional home environment. Including families in your Borderline Personality Disorder therapy can help facilitate major positive changes in the dynamic of those relationships. You will need to know that those closest to you both support the changes you need to make and are willing to make some changes themselves in order to heal old wounds and move forward.
4. It will be hard. I know you may be thinking, “It’s already hard,” but Borderline Personality Disorder therapy is a long and often difficult journey. You will explore painful past experiences, practice unfamiliar and possibly uncomfortable new ways of communicating, and experience setbacks along the way, but continued dedication to the process will yield positive results. YOU are the single most important factor in your own recovery, so stick with it.
5. It’s doable. With proper diagnosis, medication, Borderline Personality Disorder therapy, and support, you will be moving toward a more balanced and healthy life. Many people living with BPD learn how to overcome the worst aspects of it and apply new methods of thinking and communicating. They have gone on to meet personal and professional goals, heal old relationship wounds, improve the quality of their lives, and gain a sense of wholeness. You can, too.
Living with BPD can be incredibly trying at times, but taking steps to heal and recover through Borderline Personality Disorder therapy can increase your emotional stability and improve the quality of your life and relationships. There is no reason to be discouraged by a diagnosis of BPD when we can see how many people succeed in successfully recovering from it.
