Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is an area of mental/emotional health which is not well understood, even by professionals. There are several myths that surround BPD, and that, coupled with a lack of information, has a severely negative impact on the mental wellness and wellbeing of sufferers, as they struggle to access both the support and the empathy that they require. Harmful social stigma is often associated with personality disorders, too, and this can further detract from giving patients a supportive environment within which to make a good recovery.
For example, many feel that BPD is not a valid mental disorder. This couldn’t be further from the truth, as BPD can show complex symptoms, which have elements of many recognised psychiatric disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, anxiety, depression and ADHD. Things are changing for the better in this respect, as the disorder is more easily recognised now than ever before, and this means that more patients are accessing a correct diagnosis and treatment.
Another destructive myth facing those with a borderline personality disorder is that people who claim to have this are merely attention seekers who have unpleasant, destructive or dangerous tendencies. It is also often confused with Antisocial Personality Disorder. This leads to people mistrusting sufferers and refusing to offer assistance to them. This is unfortunate since what those with borderline personality disorder really need is a strong system of support.
Many people also believe that children and adolescents cannot be diagnosed with the disorder. This is not at all true, as children and adolescents can indeed be diagnosed. The myth comes from the fact that people see adolescents as troubled anyway, and many have similar characteristics to those with borderline personality disorder (such as anti social tendencies, anxiety, problems relating to others and so on). There are some clear guidelines, however, that set out how this disorder can be diagnosed, and any diagnosis in adolescents is made with careful reference to the manual.