Borderline Personality Disorder

Is your teen's life in chaos due to a struggle with Borderline Personality Disorder? Are you looking for FREE or inexpensive help? Use the Contact Link on the right.

Many residential treatment centers work with adolescents struggling with Borderline Personality Disorder. BPD teens often exhibit complex problems. Does your teen exhibit any of the following behaviors?

Parenting Awareness: Does Your Teenager Struggle With Any of the Following?

• Family Conflict, Argumentative, Abusive Behavior
• Blatant Disregard for Rules
• Can't Accept "No" For an Answer
• Abrupt Change in Personality
• Never at Fault - Shifts Blame to Others
• Uncontrollable Anger - Poor Emotional Control
• Can't Accept Feedback - "Above the Law"
• Manipulative - Pits Parents Against Each Other
• Lying - Stealing - Sneaky Behaviors
• Lack of Motivation - Lazy - Resists Tasks
• "I hate you," attitude
• "You can't make me," attitude
• Substance Abuse - Alcohol or Drugs
• Skips School - Truancy
• School Suspensions - Authority Problems
• Grades Have Fallen - Academic Problems
• Can't Keep Friends - Peer Problems
• Legal Problems - Facing Justice
• Fighting - Violence and Aggression
• Gang Involvement & Glorification

Has there been a diagnosis of a disorder?

• Danger to Self or Others
• Runs Away or AWOL
• Conduct Disorder - Diagnosed or Observed?
• Poor Choice of Friends - Easily Misled
• Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
• Bipolar Disorder - Diagnosed or Observed?
• Low Self-Esteem or Poor Self-Image
• Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
• Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD)
• Depression - Diagnosed or Observed?
• Attempted or Threats of Suicide (Ideation)
• Drug Abuse or Addiction
• Alcohol Abuse or Addiction
• Smoking or other Tobacco Use
• Sexually Active - Risky Behavior
• Cutting - Self-Harm or Mutilation
• Adoption Issues - Associated with RAD
• Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD)
• Eating Disorder (Anorexia, Bulimia)
• Learning Disabilities - Diagnosed?

In our work with teens struggling with borderline personality disorder, and parents trying to work with the often difficult symptoms of BPD, we have discovered that parents are too often so stressed by their children's behavior that they feel unable to address the root of the problems.

We recommend both therapy and an alternative approach to parenting, especially prior to employing overly aggressive authoritative intervention (incarceration or enrollment in a residential treatment program), unless the troubled teen's issues are so severe that such intervention is deemed necessary by you (the parents) and a therapeutic professional.

Unless safety and security is an issue, we normally recommend a graduated plan of intervention that begins with the home, then extends, as needed, to therapy, community, and out-of-home care. This Non-Impulsive approach is important when coping with BPD issues.

In addition to our Strong Model Workshops and Coaching Services, we use this site to maximize the amount of information you can obtain on Teen Borderline Personality Disorder.

Note: Many of the entertaining and inspiring Workshops and Coaching Services found on InsightPros provide specific methods and approaches parents should use when working with teens struggling with Borderline Personality Disorder.

Borderline Personality Disorder: Parenting Relationship

Parenting Awareness: Signs that a troubled teen is struggling with borderline personality disorder (BPD) may include: dramatic mood swings, irritability, and intense anger. Mood swings normally occur in response to stressful life situations, especially difficulties in interpersonal relationships or conflict. Intense sensitivity to rejection or perceived abandonment, responding with explosive anger or with self-injurious or suicidal behavior.

Other BPD symptoms include feelings of emptiness or boredom; identity confusion; and impulsive behavior (over-spending, risky sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, or binge eating). Those struggling with BPD may experience brief stress-related periods of paranoid or irrational thinking, thinking in “black and white” terms, and alternating between extremes of idealization (everything is wonderful) and devaluation (everything is terrible).

BPD Causes

Borderline personality disorder has as many causes as there are people who suffer from it. The disorder may be caused by a combination of a person's parental upbringing, their personality and social development, as well as genetic and biological factors. While the exact cause is not yet known, it is understood that the disorder most often manifests during increased times of stress and interpersonal difficulties in the person's life.

There is a common misconception that people with this disorder are weak or should be able to "snap out of it." It's important to understand that those who suffer from borderline personality disorder are not consciously holding themselves back from correcting their behavior.

BPD Treatment

Individual psychotherapy is the most effective treatment for this personality disorder. Treatment most often focuses on increasing the person's coping mechanisms and their interpersonal skills. The more severe the disorder, the longer the duration of therapy. Brief therapy can include a supportive, problem-solving approach, cognitive techniques to challenge distorted thinking, and interpersonal therapy to teach the person how to develop meaningful relationships. Brief therapy usually lasts four to twelve weeks.

Medication may be used to treat other accompanying disorders or specific symptoms the person may have, such as depression, psychotic symptoms, or anxious symptoms. (Article contribution from Arthur Buchanan.)

You have made the right choice in seeking help for your teen's disorder. The next step is to contact us. We have vast experience in the treatment care industry. We have worked in the industry. We have lived in the industry. We have seen what works ...... and what doesn't.

We will guide you. We will inform you. Take advantage of our knowledge and insight. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

For any questions - follow our contact link above.