Is Your Child Dealing
Are you caring for your child with suspected or diagnosed Borderline Personality Disorder?
As their primary caregiver, this experience can be overwhelmingly isolating and stressful especially if you are also managing your household. To help you understand what your child is going through and how you can help yourself to ease your burdens, we have prepared some information about Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) in young people.
What is Borderline Personality Disorder?
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a severe mental health condition that causes an individual to experience problems controlling emotions and impulses towards themselves and others. This condition often creates difficulty in maintaining balanced long-term relationships with family members, friends and loved ones.
People with BPD fear abandonment, experience mood swings and often act impulsively, causing conflict in their relationships. They lack a clear sense of identity and seem to frequently change ‘direction’, either in their thinking or in their behaviours.
People with BPD show heightened activity in the limbic system, an area of the brain that controls fear, anger and aggression. It is estimated that around 6.5% of the Australian population experience symptoms of BPD these types of problems at any given point in time.
Symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder in Children
Borderline Personality Disorder often presents itself or shows signs during adolescence. Some children can also experience onset symptoms which may further develop and cause long-term deficits if not detected and treated early.
If your child is suspected or diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, it does not mean they will experience all of the symptoms familiar to everyone, but they are at a high risk to do so. It is important to remember that your son or daughter can have a very different experience from another child living with this condition and therefore a specific assessment and treatment are necessary.
Common signs of Borderline Personality Disorder in children include:
Emotional instability
- Extreme emotions/mood swings, from intense love to intense hate
- Chronic feelings of emptiness and isolation
- Explosive anger
- Difficulty expressing feelings
- Hyperactivity and restlessness
- Impulse control problems
- Intense fear
- Substance abuse and suicide attempts
Issues with sense of self and identity
- Dysfunctional, distorted self-image
- Self-criticism and possible engagement in self-harm
- Impulsive, self-destructive behaviours such as uncontrollable eating
Relationship difficulties
- Fear of abandonment and difficulty tolerating being alone
- History of unstable, intense, conflict-riddled relationships
- Lack of empathy for others
What causes Borderline Personality Disorder in Children?
- Biological or genetic factors – people with BPD show heightened activity in the limbic system, an area of the brain that controls fear, anger and aggression
- Problematic relationships with caregivers and significant others that they are currently going through
- Traumatic early life experiences such as abuse, neglect or death of parents
- Stressful social circumstances when it comes to relationships with friends and others in school
- Difficulty in learning how to deal with emotions because of their experiences with other people
Diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) can develop at an early age and if not properly addressed, they can carry this mental health condition to adolescence and through to adulthood.
This mental health condition is often confused with Bipolar Disorder which also shows similar signs. Other symptoms from childhood disorders like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Oppositional Defiant Disorder can also display similar symptoms in children but are not necessarily part of the diagnosis for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). As such, it is necessary to get your child to a Pediatric GP or a Psychiatrist that specialises in helping children to get the professional medical help that can determine how to properly aid your child.
A diagnosis involves systematic interviews alongside ruling out other behavioural and mental health conditions. For children to be diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), they must experience constant or periodical extreme mood changes on most days for at least 6 months.
Treatments of Borderline Personality Disorder
Psychotherapy is the best treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder, with Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) being the most recommended therapy. The focus is on developing healthy behaviours in an emotional crisis when the person tends to default to unhelpful long-term behaviours such as suicidal behaviours or self-harm.
Since each child’s case is unique, it’s best to refer to a GP or a Psychiatrist that specialises in treating children. This way, the professional can get devise a holistic treatment plan that can address the medical, physical, social and emotional aspects of the mental health condition.
The therapy works with concepts such as mindfulness or being in the present moment, which helps the individual to be aware of negative emotions and behaviours. It also teaches skills in how to tolerate negative emotions and how to communicate effectively with others, thus dealing with distress more effectively.
Medication can be part of the treatment plan described by the psychiatrist. If depression, anxiety or extreme distorted thinking are prevalent as part of the condition, anti-depressant or anti-psychotic medication may be prescribed.
How to help your Child with Borderline Personality Disorder
If you suspect something unusual with your son or daughter’s behaviour, you can browse online for mental health services or call a mental health phone line to find out what your child may be going through and how to help them. Aside from physical and emotional support for your child, the best way to help them is by taking them to a medical professional for proper assessment and treatment. Do not disregard the signs, bring them to a GP or Psychiatrist to seek professional help as early as possible.
How to help yourself
Caring and supporting your child with Borderline Personality Disorder can take a toll on you especially if you see your son or daughter struggling with their mental health condition. To help yourself go through this journey, HelpingMinds® offers free and confidential support to people who are caring for someone living with mental health challenges. We have programs that specifically cater to parents or guardians of children experiencing mental health conditions. We also offer free counselling, support groups, rest and revive activities, school holiday programs, family programs, youth programs and advocacy to people living in WA.
Get Support from HelpingMinds®
Would you like to know more about free and confidential mental health carer services and how we can support you? Please feel free to contact HelpingMinds® via the form below or on (08) 9427 7100. For one of our team to get back to you, we will require your email address and/or phone number. Please know all information provided will be treated completely confidential and in line with our privacy policy.
