What Causes Borderline Personality Disorder?

I want to briefly describe what BPD is to those of you who may not know yet. Borderline Personality disorder or BPD is a mental illness that's characterized by a pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, and self-image. Those with BPD can be impulsive (with regard to self-harm behaviors, sex, spending, binge eating, reckless driving, etc), constantly worry about being abandoned, have recurrent suicidal behavior, mood instability, chronic feelings of emptiness, inappropriate and intense anger, and dissociative symptoms.
Now I know that’s a lot to take in, so just know that those with BPD feel everything around them very intensely, and therefore it can be really hard to manage it all. That’s why their relationships can be so tumultuous. If you think that any of these symptoms apply to you and your experience please reach out to a mental health professional in your area. And I would try to find someone who practices DBT (dialectical behavior therapy).
Now obviously BPD isn’t like PTSD where we can trackback to the incident that caused the mental illness, because BPD doesn’t work like that. But due to past and present research, we do have an idea of the factors that can contribute to someone developing BPD.
1. Genetics. Research shows that those of us who have a first degree relative (like sibling or parent) with BPD are 10 times more likely to have BPD ourselves. But they also did some twin studies and have determined that 42-69 percent of our BPD is related or caused by genes, and the remaining 58-31 percent of our BPD is caused by something else.
2. They have done some studies on those with BPD and found that they had some irregularities in their brain structure. The parts of our brain that are responsible for emotion regulation, impulsivity, and aggression are different than those without BPD. These “parts of our brain” that I am talking about are collectively called the Limbic System. On top of that, they have even found evidence that shows the emotion regulation chemicals like dopamine and serotonin in the brains of those with BPD don’t work properly either.
3. Trauma or a stressful childhood. But we do find a strong correlation between growing up in an abusive home where we were sexually or physically abused or even neglected in any way can lead to us developing BPD later in life. They also find that if our home was stressful, let’s say our parents always shouted at each other or we had to move a lot, or we didn’t know if our mom or dad would come back. Any consistent stress and uncertainty could cause BPD.
And like I said before if you are struggling with BPD or some of the symptoms please reach out and find a therapist in your area. Preferably someone who is a certified DBT specialist, but even a therapist who does attachment-based work, CBT, or even a trauma specialist will all work and can help you recover from your symptoms of BPD.
BPD video:    • What is Borderline Personality Disord...  
DBT video:    • What is Dialectical Behavior Therapy?  
Resources: https://www.verywellmind.com/genetic-...

I'm Kati Morton, a licensed therapist making Mental Health videos!
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