Borderline Personality Disorder and Addiction
Borderline personality disorder, or "BPD", is a unique condition in which the individual suffers from an instable perception of themselves and lacks the ability to maintain any kind of stable relationships. Those who suffer from BPD are often highly manipulative individuals who are constantly in search of a high level of caretaking from other adults. This manipulative behavior causes the BPD-diagnosed individual to feel anger and resentment about others and themselves.
BPD has generated a great deal of controversy over the years because of questions over how the condition is defined in the medical community, and concerns about the effects of over-medicating those with the illness.
The relationship between BPD and addiction is, for lack of a better term, a messy one. The use of drugs and alcohol (which is very common among those with borderline personality disorder) aggravate several symptoms of BPD, most notably, rage and depression. Those who have BPD are more likely to engage in drug or alcohol consumption as an attempt to numb the pain of their feelings of abandonment.
When it comes to treating BPD and addiction concurrently this fact makes proper diagnosis difficult. This is the case with all types of dual diagnoses, but it is particularly challenging in the case of BPD where the individual's anti-social and manipulative tendencies make the difficult to work with. Further confusing matters is the fact that several signs of drug and alcohol addiction are very similar to symptoms of BPD.
Common symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder
- Frantic efforts to avoid abandonment - both real and imagined
- Unstable sense of self
- Inability to maintain interpersonal relationships
- Suicidal behavior
- Instability of mood
- Chronic feelings of emptiness and depression
- Paranoia
- Difficulty controlling anger
As you can see, several of the BPD symptoms listed above are indeed very similar to those associated with drug or alcohol addiction. In particular, the suicidal behavior, moodiness, depression and paranoia are all symptoms commonly associated with drug and alcohol addiction). This is what makes treating a dual diagnosis such as this difficult at a traditional rehab facility. Unless the facility specifically states that they treat dual diagnosis patients, they will not have the psychiatric professionals on staff to handle the BPD element of the illness.
The Dual Diagnosis Treatment Centers are experts at sorting out difficult situations such as co-occurrence of BPD and drug addiction. The professionals at the Dual Diagnosis Treatment Centers in California and Tennessee perform thorough assessments of every patient, and evaluate the mental illness component as well as the addiction component in detail to insure proper care is given to the individual.
If you or someone in your life has borderline personality disorder, and is also caught in the grips of drug or alcohol addiction, contact us today. We have the expert professionals on staff to help sort through both conditions, and provide integrated care to the individual. This is top notch care for those who need it most. Dual Diagnosis is what we do best.
