Borderline personality disorder, or BPD, is known for its ability to cause severe life disruption. It’s also known for its ties to a much higher risk of attempting and committing suicide. These stark realities underscore the vital importance of finding an effective treatment. If you’re affected by the disorder, you may also need help with substance problems. That’s true because BPD and addiction often occur together.
Crossroads is located in Scarborough, Maine. We specialize in the treatment of these serious and co-occurring health issues. Our comprehensive approach provides the support you need to regain sobriety and mental stability. To get your recovery started today, call us at 877.978.1667.
What Is Borderline Personality Disorder?
Personality is a common term for everyday patterns involving your thought, mood, and behavior. These patterns shape how you view life and the world around you. They also shape how other people perceive you.
A personality disorder is a mental illness that produces long-term, disruptive changes in your personality. There are 10 of these illnesses, including borderline personality disorder. People with BPD suffer a serious decline in their baseline control over their emotions. As a result, they’re susceptible to extreme mood swings. In turn, these extremes of mood typically lead to an unstable self-identity, as well as unstable relationships. If you’re affected by BPD, you may also:
- Act impulsively
- Engage in reckless or outright dangerous behavior
- Have a frequent or constant sense of emptiness
- Feel disconnected from yourself or your surrounding reality
- Avoid any situations that can leave you feeling abandoned
- Harm yourself without attempting to kill yourself
- Experience repeated thoughts of suicide
- Make one or more suicide attempts
Approximately seven in 10 people with BPD will try to kill themselves at least once. One in every 10 people with the disorder will die from suicide.
Help for Borderline Personality Disorder Through Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is usually the primary treatment option for BPD. Two forms of therapy used frequently for this purpose are:
- Dialectical behavior therapy, or DBT
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy, or CBT
DBT was created to help people with a borderline personality disorder. It teaches you how to pay closer attention to your emotional reactions. It also enables you to gain control over those reactions, as well as your behavior. In addition, DBT helps you make your relationships more stable. In CBT, you learn to recognize distortions in your views of yourself and reality. You also discover how to correct those distortions.
Medication for Borderline Personality Disorder
Medication may help you with specific symptoms of BPD. It may also help you with mental health issues that occur alongside the disorder. However, it plays a much less important role in the average treatment plan than DBT or CBT.
You may be prescribed medication to help with impulsivity, aggression, anxiety, or depression. Some people with BPD are also prescribed medication to help with sleep problems. Medication can be an essential part of your treatment, but it’s not a cure for BPD. You’ll likely still need to participate in therapy to manage your symptoms.
Finding Providers Who Offer Effective Help for Borderline Personality Disorder
To find adequate help for BPD, you should know what treatments are available to manage this mental illness and how to find a treatment program that suits your specific needs. Medication and talk therapy are two main treatments used to manage borderline personality disorder.
While medication can help treat some symptoms associated with BPD, it is not a cure-all and should always be used in conjunction with talk therapy. In addition, you must find experienced professionals capable of providing that treatment. Substance problems and BPD are often intertwined. For this reason, you may also need help from experienced addiction specialists.
Turn to Crossroads for Expert Treatment of Addiction and Personality Disorder
BPD is not the only personality disorder that co-occurs with drug or alcohol problems. In fact, any of the 10 personality-related illnesses can increase your addiction risks. In turn, addiction may also help increase your risks for BPD and other personality disorders.
At Crossroads, we feature targeted treatments for the combined effects of personality disorders and addiction. Regardless of the disorder affecting you, we provide customized support for restoring your health and well-being.
Call us today at 877.978.1667 to find the help you need to overcome BPD and addiction.
