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Role of Shame in BPD
A very good article about the role of shame in BPD. I have said many times how shame plays a central role in BPD. Frankly, I feel that shame feelings are biological in BPD. In the article he says abuse is the cause, but I feel that shame in BPD is like sadness in clinical depression – it just exists even if there is no cause. Maybe there are two types of BPD, one that is biological and one that is caused by abuse? Or maybe the one that is caused by abuse is PTSD and not BPD? Anyway, here is an excerpt: Dr. Donald Nathanson has pioneered the study…
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Wise Mind and DBT
Wise Mind – Taking Control of your Mind States of Mind Reason Mind This is your rational, thinking, logical mind It plans and evaluates things logically. It is your “cool” part. Reasonable Mind can be very beneficial. It is easier to be in Reasonable Mind when you feel good. It is much harder to be in Reasonable Mind when you don’t feel good. You Would Use Your Reasonable Mind To: Build a bridge Figure out how to double a recipe Balance your checkbook Figure out the fastest way from point “A” to point “B” Emotion Mind This describes times when your emotions are out of control — times when emotions…
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Adopted Children and BPD
This is a link to site positing that adopted children are often mis-diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Sometimes, BPD is characterized by an “”inability to connect”” with parents. In the case of adopted persons, the initial invalidation of being “”rejected”” by one’s birth parents can be a life-long struggle. I have found that in Family Support groups close to 40% of the children diagnosed with BPD were adopted. However, there is another theory that has been overlooked by this author. That is that the birth parents of these children may have exposed them to biological impulsivity. If the mothers of the adopted children are impulsive – having sex and…
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BPD and Purge Schemas
In a recent review of blogs about Borderlines – to see what else is out there and to review myths that are being put forth on the Internet – I found this comment about BPD: Beck and Freeman (1990) describe three core cognitive schema present in BPD as “The world is dangerous and malevolent”, “I am powerless and vulnerable” and “I am inherently unacceptable.” Beck is a CBT theorist who sets forth the “schema” approach to fixing the self. DBT uses the “emotional dysregulation” approach. What I found interesting about the above quote is that borderlines themselves identify with it as if it completely describes them. Clearly, the shame aspect…
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BF Skinner meets Buddha with DBT
An article about DBT: Underlying this skills-based approach is Dr. Linehan’s belief that borderline individuals are deficient in emotion management skills. According to her bio-social theory, borderline personality disorder results from a biologically based emotional vulnerability (high sensitivity, high reactivity, and a slow return to baseline) in combination with environmental factors that invalidate emotions over time and thwart the use of skills. This is a controversial departure from the psychoanalytic community’s view of borderlines as deficient in personality structure and personality functioning. In fact, Dr. Linehan advocates a name change for the much maligned borderline diagnosis, proposing instead the label of “”emotion dysregulation disorder”” and a reorganization of diagnostic criteria.…
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Blaming the parents
One of the big problems I have seen in meeting people with BPD children is that often the mental health professionals believe that the ONLY cause of BPD is childhood abuse. While 75% of adult female borderlines report childhood abuse (and many sexual abuse), what if those are the only ones that seek treatment? And what of the other 25%? In other words, parents of borderlines – who are confused, angry and scared about the welfare of their children – are often the ones blamed for the disorder by mental health professionals. A good corollary is the reactions of health care workers when someone appears at the hospital with a…