Home Health Center Borderline Personality Disorder   Borderline Personality Disorder - Treatment

Treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder



There are three different approaches to treatments. There are:

Psychotherapy is the core therapy for treating BPD. The main kinds of psychotherapy that have been used successfully are:

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) This treatment was designed specifically to help people with this condition. It is usually done either through individual or through group counseling. If needed, it can also be conducted over the phone. This is a skill based approach conducted by a trained professional. The therapist addresses four areas that are considered to be the most problematic for individuals with this disorder. They are self-image, problems in relating to others, mood instability and impulsive behavior. DBT tries to address these areas by improving a person's behavioral skills, specifically mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotional regulation and distress tolerance. This teaches a person how to regulate their emotions, how to handle stressful situations and how to improve relationships.

Transference-Focused Psychotherapy (TFP) develops a relationship between the patient and the therapist thereby helping the patient understand the dynamics of maintaining a relationship. This experience can then help the patient maintain healthy relationships with family and friends.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a talk therapy that helps a person to understand how their thought and behavioral patterns affect each other.

Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) focuses on the manner in which the person's symptoms are related to the problems in relating to others.

Psychoanalytic Therapy focuses on helping the individual understand and deal with negative emotions. This approach has been found to work well when used in the context of current relationships and when the therapist takes a more active and vocal approach than in traditional psychoanalytic treatment.

• Group therapy can help bring about identification of destructive behavioral patterns and help a person to change them.
• Hospitalization: This may be required for intensive treatment and is necessitated when the affected person's life is endangered.
• Medication: These cannot cure BPD but are used to treat symptoms like depression and mood swings or other accompanying mental illnesses. They may include anti-depressants like fluoxetine [Prozac], sertraline [Zoloft] or citalopram [Celexa], anti- psychotics like olanzapine [Zyprexa], risperidone [Risperdal] or mood stabilizers like divalproex sodium [Depakote] or carbamazepine [Tegretol].
  

Medication can be beneficial as in the case of women who suffer from both bipolar and BPD. Such individuals may respond well to a mood stabilizer like divalproex sodium by experiencing less anger and irritability.