Is Your Teenager Dealing
Are you caring for your teenager with suspected or diagnosed Borderline Personality Disorder?
Seeing your son or daughter experience this mental health condition can be very painful yet leave you stressed and overwhelmed. To help you understand what they are going through, and how you can help yourself in this journey, we have prepared some information about Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) in teenagers or 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, 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 Teenagers
Though some children show signs of onset Borderline Personality Disorder, this mental health condition often presents itself during adolescence or teen years. When not detected and treated early, this mental health condition can cause long-term deficits which your teenager may carry to adulthood.
If your teenager is suspected or diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, it does not mean they will experience all of the symptoms. 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 is necessary.
Common signs of Borderline Personality Disorder in teenagers 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
- Feeling out-of-touch with reality
- Depression
- Substance abuse
- Harming behaviour or suicide attempt
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 engaging in unsafe sex and drug and alcohol abuse
- Impulse and reckless actions including shoplifting, reckless driving and 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?
- 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
- Relationships with caregivers and significant others in early childhood that were particularly problematic
- Traumatic early life experiences such as abuse, neglect, death of parents or a close friend
- Stressful social circumstances; financial, work, relationship or family
- Difficulty in learning how to deal with emotions because of their experiences with other people, often during early childhood
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.
Other symptoms from mental health conditions like Anxiety and Bipolar Disorder can also display similar qualities in teens but are not necessarily part of the diagnosis for Borderline Personality Disorder. As such, it is necessary to get your son or daughter to a GP or a Psychiatrist that specialises in helping teens so that they can receive professional medical help appropriate for their condition.
A diagnosis involves systematic interviews alongside ruling out other behavioural and mental health conditions. For teenagers 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 teen’s case is unique, it’s best to refer to a GP or a Psychiatrist that specialises in treating adolescents. 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 Teenager with Borderline Personality Disorder
The best way to help your teenager with Borderline Personality Disorder is to get them the professional assessment and treatment that they require for their condition. Aside from that, parents can also browse online and call mental health phone lines to find out more information about what their son or daughter is going through and how they can provide assistance. Aside from finding them the mental health professional they need, as a parent, you can also offer a listening ear and let them know you are there for them. Giving affirmations and positivity to effective treatment is also a good way to let your teenager know that everything will be alright and that you will always support them no matter what happens.
How to help yourself
Seeing someone you love have Borderline Personality Disorder can be very painful. As their primary caregiver, it can also be a stressful and frustrating experience for you, especially if you do not have someone to confide with. But you don’t have to go through it alone! At HelpingMinds®, we offer 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 teens experiencing mental health conditions. We also offer free counselling, support groups, rest and revive activities as well as other programs that promote mental health awareness.
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.
